Playing For Time
by tyrsownRue
Summary: AU There was a time when playing hide&seek and following rainbows didn't involve jumping from trains and dodging bullets. But that was before I met the Gullwings, and long before Ellone sent me to find a phantom. CxL
1. Chapter 1

I can't make a convincing argument

**Playing For Time**

ooo

I can't make a convincing argument. Never been able to. Spent most of my life silent as others engaged in passionate debate, content to take action once they had sorted out their own opinions. Inconsequential and petty opinions, sure, but somehow that never stopped them from pushing their points. 

It was one of the reasons I joined the army to begin with. I never needed to convince anyone of anything. The orders came, the orders were executed. Even in the black-ops, you didn't need an explanation why. The soldiers that needed that 'why' never lasted long. Reasons were for the diplomats and officials to decide, to push, to convince. Their arguments were for others like them, not grunts like soldiers. If a grunt soldier disagreed, they had to have a damn good reason to disobey, and one hell of a convincing argument made at the end of a gun. Even _with_ one, it wasn't likely you'd enjoy the situation you found yourself in once you had made your precious point. The Midgar army was ruthless. There was a _reason_ the surface had gained the name Hollow Bastion.

So myself, being incapable to make a convincing argument, and not really caring to either, didn't pay much attention to the discontents of others. That was their problem. Let them discuss and argue and debate amongst themselves. In the end, at least I'd still be employed and in one piece.

No one could run far.

There was tell of a man a few years back – before I'd earned my rank, or even had a reason to associate with the higher ranks – that had escaped their reach. A veritable ghost among the black-ops when he was there. Not many ever saw much of him, if the rumors are to be believed, and those that _did_ said he completed his orders with a cold and brutal efficiency that was terrifying to behold. They said he was young, close to my age now, which was ridiculous. Not many eighteen year-olds made it that far, that fast. And they said he was younger. The rumors claimed he moved with the experience of a man more than twice that, with a shock of dark hair and eyes that glowed. If he had a name, they never knew it.

And then one day, he vanished entirely; became the ghost they whispered he always was.

I'd never thought much of the man. He was nothing more than a rumor – a paragon of the perfect soldier that never truly existed.

That is, until I received a note from my sister telling me she had found him. The sister I hadn't seen in over ten years.

Before that, I had almost forgotten I even _had_ a family beyond the barracks. My mother had died sometime in those hazy years before memory fully registered, and my father…had disappeared even before that. I know his name was Loire. Something Loire. I know my mother had been proud to have that name. I was proud to have hers.

Ellone. Ellone had disappeared on me when I was eight. To where, I still don't know, leaving only the vague impression of a dark-haired, smiling half-sister.

The note she'd sent, through which means, or how it even found me, kept me puzzled for days before I even took the time to read it. It had been addressed to Squall, a name that I had abandoned years ago. That was the only reason I hadn't written off the cryptic message as a laughably weak prank. No one knew that name. Not here.

She had said she'd found him, that they were after her, and that she was going away again. The thought that she had come to see me after ten years of silence was strange. The thought that she would think to send me a message about a phantom she shouldn't even know, even stranger. It had told me to be careful. 

I didn't know what she had meant by that. Not initially. I occurred to me later, as I was hastily packing a bag and ducking away from patrols, that the 'they' who were hounding her were the men I was working for. And that they'd eventually make the connection between her and I; it's not like I went to any trouble to hide my relations. Had I known it would turn out like this, I just might have. So she had warned me, because she knew they would come for me, if only to use me against her. Even if I had no idea where she was.

And I had almost ignored it.

She said that she was being taken by one of the rebel factions; that they would hide her and keep her safe. Not to worry about her, because she could take care of herself – had been doing so for a long time now. I had read it with a sort of detached anger. Why was she telling me this? It's not like I would race after a woman I barely remembered and demand to protect her myself. I had had a place in the world, a job to do and people who recognized me. Relied on me. 

Because of that vague figment of my past, I found myself with nothing.

She'd also said a lot of rubbish about riding dragons to holy land, and wolves waiting in gardens. About ships that resembled giant swans and something about angel or faerie women. Pixies? It wasn't much, but it was all I had to go on while dodging men that until a few days ago had been my comrades. 

I spent three days dodging patrols; dodging civilization in general, which was remarkably difficult in a giant city of steel. I knew I couldn't stay there though. There was only so long I could hide on the Plate before someone turned me in, and so I knew I needed a back door.

Eventually I found myself stowed away in the back of a freighter spiraling down beneath the gargantuan metal disc that made up the Bastion's floor, and the Slum's sky. Crouched between a bundle of rusted pipes and a mountain of refuse they hadn't bothered to package; just shoveled it in and shipped it underground. The Bastion's inhabitants never cared what happened to their waste, so long as it ended up out of sight. But damn, was this going to be a hard smell to wash out. To think I'd gone from a finely laundered uniform, drinking chardonnay with the General, to a battered bomber jacket jumping at the sound of a rat.

The train had barely cleared the plate when the sirens began, and I had thought for sure that they had somehow detected me. Ran an ID checkpoint at a different interval than usual, just because they knew I was on the run. They'd done it before, for others. Hell, I'd done it before. Maybe that's why they didn't. Assumed I'd have tried a different path. A smarter one.

And they _hadn't._ Run the ID check, that is.

The alarm, I discovered, was because the train was being hijacked. Someone was hijacking a refuse train. It seemed like the most ridiculous thing in the world just then, and because of it, my grand glorious chariot of trash that was whisking me away to some laughable form of safety, would be checked and investigated and torn apart. 

The reason I knew it was being hijacked was because they decided to target my car.

I had thought, with the first exploding freight door, that it was the black-ops for certain, come to reclaim one of their own. What I hadn't expected was to be confronted by some child in a white cat-like cape swinging in from the roof. The giant yellow button eyes on her hood glared at me accusingly, as though it was _my_ fault she had decided to take the wrong train, and she pointed some large, four-pointed metal weapon at me as she braced herself for a fight.

"I saw it first!"

What? Well that certainly wouldn't have been _my_ first choice of words. Then again, I wasn't much the type for words of any kind, especially not to strange kids pointing…pointy things at me. "I was _in_ it first."

Oh bravo, Leon. Antagonize your hostile stranger further, why don't you.

"Well get out."

They would be investigating soon, if they weren't _already _on their way back to this cart. And the train was still moving. Was she insane?

"You want me to jump from a moving train." Time was ticking. What else could I really do? It wasn't like I would last long after they caught me anyway. Didn't have much of an option on the train now anyhow.

"Tuck and roll."

It was at that moment that gunfire erupted in the connecting cart and the cat girl grabbed my arm, poised to jump. Oh God, she was going to throw me off the train. Did she even know how fast trains moved? "Look, you just ruined our maneuver with your stubbornness! You're going to explain to them why I returned empty-handed, jerk." 

"I don't even know you." First she was going to throw me from a train, and then she'd hold my remains hostage?

"I'll count to two." The door from the joining car was thrown open then, and the girl had jumped in a swirl of white, pulling me after her. For a brief moment, there was the notion that I could fly. Not a very good notion, that; made you forget the eventual landing.

I was fortunate that she had chosen to jump just as the train had reached an area that broadened beyond the skeletal framework of tracks and girders. Two tracks converged here, the ground covered in a coarse layer of gravel and dirt where the metal crossed, providing some semblance of a barren, oil-slicked runway. Even clearing the train, we had enough room to react and take the impact at a roll. Should have expected it to feel like voluntarily scrubbing oneself with sandpaper. Funny that I could feel it even through the leather. I only stopped my ungainly tumble when I met the wall of the tunnel. I think I swore.

And the damn cat-girl was beside me again, hands on her hips as she waited for something. The spiked thing was stabbed into the ground beside her. When the world stopped spinning, I realized what that was.

Further down the track a trio of girls was racing towards us from where the train disappeared. They had to be her accomplices. I didn't want to explain what I didn't even understand myself. I didn't want to be poked and prodded about what I was doing on a refuse train to begin with, nor where I was headed or why. It wasn't their business anyway. That girl had just thrown me from a train, damn it.

I got to my feet then, trying not to use the wall as a crutch and began my retreat down the opposite track. I knew the layout fairly well; we'd run a few exercises down here before, and while I hadn't been one of the actual retrieval squad of the deserters, I'd seen the schematics on more than one occasion. The central pillar that held the plate was a warren of tunnels and service shafts, but they all led either up…or down. Couldn't go up. That meant only one thing.

"Hey hey!" She was back, jogging to catch up as she waved her arms wildly. "Where do you think you're off to?"

"Away." I had to completely rethink my course of action. They would send sweeps throughout the pillar. They may not have known it was me on that train; no one had seen me except this kid, and I didn't want to kill her but there was no way I could get all of us out of this alive when they found out who I was. That was my greatest problem. I didn't like killing someone without orders, and I certainly wouldn't be finding any here.

"I just saved your ass. Don't you even want to know my name?"

What did her name have to do with anything? And since when was throwing someone off a train considered saving? "Not particularly."

"It's Yuffie. Yuffie Kisaragi!"

Wonderful. I think I dignified that with a grunt. Stuck in a tunnel with two directions, pursuing assassins and four teenage would-be trainjackers. All because my adventuring half-sister had found herself a phantom.

"Wait!"

I think I sped up.

It was at that point the little cat girl behind bashed me in the head, and the world turned dark. Orders or not, I swore she was going to die when I came to. If I came to.

ooo

Alright, so he wasn't supposed to go down that easily. I mean, he was a big guy, or at least looked like he should've been able to stand up to a little more than a little teensy knock. Okay, okay. So I hit him a little harder than I had meant to, but he wasn't running away anymore, and that was the point, really.

Hm. He looked good in leather.

It had been a little surprising to see him in the cart – after all, no one was supposed to be there. Standard recovery mission. Grab what could be salvaged and get out before the 'authorities' came. Bad luck, them having a faster response time than usual. Yuna was probably sore over having to waste bullets.

I was supposed to return with something useful, but I think a person falls into that category somewhat. I hope. Hey, at least I'd grabbed _something_. Smelt bad, but at least it was something.

Even if it _was_ a little rude.

The other Gullwings had caught up, Yuna and Rikku bent over for air, Paine trying to look like she didn't need to. I couldn't help but grin.

"What happened? We were supposed to have more time than that."

"They had men posted three cars down." Paine eyed the body behind me skeptically. "Does that make a fourth body to add to the list? We're not supposed to draw attention."

"He's not dead." I hoped he wasn't dead. I mean, yeah, he looked like he'd never jumped from a train before, and he'd hit the wall pretty hard, but he'd been good enough to get up, right? Could have him leaving though; he was a witness after all. 

And I'd stolen him, so he was mine. It's not like I let my property just walk away and get lost; that would just be negligent of me.

"If he's not dead, why is he here?" Yuna and Rikku were crouched beside his body then, prodding him. Prodding my property.

"Hey hey! I found it, it's mine!" Yeah, I had no idea how I was going to get him home all unconscious-like, but I was the great ninja Yuffie! It's not like improbability had ever deterred me before. 

"You're bringing him back with us?" Paine had her arms crossed now, one foot tapping in a really irritating manner. Come on, did she honestly think I was going to change my mind now? "We've got a long climb ahead of us, Yuffie, and there's no way we can get him down once we get to the top."

"Think of how much fun we could have! Rikku! I know you've been wanting to dress Cloud for ages. This one doesn't even have a bag! A chance like this isn't going to come again for, like, ever!" Not like I'd let her have this one without my supervision, but she didn't need to know that. "Yuna, he has shinies! Look!"

With a push of my foot, he had rolled over, a silver lion pendant sparkling against his black leather. Shiiiiiiny. That one was mine. I'm sure he had others that would satisfy her. If not, we'd sort it out later, but that one was _mine_ damn it!

They considered it. I know they considered it. Paine knew they considered it.

Because they considered it, I knew I had already won.

"Paine, help me carry it."

She rolled her eyes but pulled an arm over her shoulder anyhow. Just like that.

ooo

When I came to, I can't say it was with any grand, dynamic or even vaguely poetic display. One minute I was unconscious, the next I wasn't.

But I was more than a little wet.

Well, it explained why I was awake.

Some blonde girl was a mass of braids and beads for a head was grinning demonically at me, bucket clutched in her hands.

"He's better now, see?" she said proudly, as if she had actually thought it was a good idea to bring me 'round like that. God, these pants were not meant to be worn wet. Wasn't as though I had another pair to change into either.

I was in some sort of room, leaning half against a steel wall. Small – looked like a service room of some kind, one wall slightly curving away. We were still in the Plate's support structure. I'm not sure why that disappointed me as much as it did. Perhaps I had thought that they would be able to get me into the clear and away from my pursuers, if only for a short time. I could have left the city behind; hid myself in the woods. 

"Where am I?" I wanted to throttle the grinning blonde girl. I wanted to take out my anger on anything – everything that was building up from running and hiding and leaving everything behind. But I knew that leaving a trail of bodies was never the best move, and there was still the chance that I could use them as decoys. Then again, I wasn't so sure that my pursuers were beyond taking out young girls to get to me. 

Whatever the case, I had to get to the ground first.

"Under the plate, in service room fifty-six." The girl with short silver hair said with practiced boredom. She wore more leather than I did, and had her arms folded, scowling to the best of her ability. I had to admit, she was pretty good at it – no where near the standards I was used to, but she had potential.

But she had said fifty-six. What had the system grids said about service rooms? Fifth room, sixth sector. No preceding number…we were inside the Plate. _Inside_. I needed to be on the ground. If they were searching the passages, there was no way I would be able to make my way down now. It was either go up and attempt to catch another train, or sit and wait out the eventuality of them finding me.

My head had a dull ache from where I let it fall back against the wall. I was going to die. Because some girl decided to hijack garbage. Fate's a bitch.

The wall was cold through my shirt and the capped end of a bolt was digging into my shoulder. I didn't bother to shift though, I already knew it would leave a bruise. 

Wait. I had a jacket; thick leather thing with a collar of fur. They had taken my jacket! I did a quick inventory of my person. Necklace was gone, so was ring and gloves.

They must have sensed it, because they all adopted a look of innocence. In unison. Hadn't said a word, and already they were ready to deny it. Whatever, they couldn't have gotten far.

The girl in the white cloak just stood there grinning under her deep cat hood.

"You." I leveled a finger at her accusingly. Surprisingly, she was the only one who didn't move back. "Who are you and what the hell am I doing on the floor."

Her grin seemed to grow wider and she struck a pose. "I am the beautiful White Rose of Wutai!" With a flourish she had thrown away her cape, revealing a gangly girl in mismatched clothes pointing back dramatically. "Yuffie Kisaragi! And _you_ are now mine."

"Funny." I got to my feet at that point, leveling another glare at the blonde bucket girl as a drip trickled down my nose. Bloody water. Bloody girls. "I'm leaving."

They had all tensed with my action, drawing forth weapons from wherever they had hidden them.

"What is this?" I wasn't killing them, which I should have done. I wasn't even demanding they return my possessions yet.

"I said you're mine. I stole you." Said the…Yuffie.

"You can't steal a person. You kidnap them." This girl was out of her mind. "Are you saying you're kidnapping me?"

"I was told that anything on that train that was useful should be stolen. Because of you, I didn't have time to take anything else." She responded in complete seriousness. Gods, she was _serious_. "Besides, a person is useful, especially pretty ones."

The silver-haired girl hit her upside the head at that, and she clumsily staggered about. The others hadn't lowered their guards though.

"You know, technically Yuffie saved your life." The girl who had been crouched voiced. Dark haired; long braid wrapped in red. Guns. "If we hadn't come along they would have found you. I can only assume you're a runaway from somewhere, probably somewhere important. Otherwise they'd have had no need for guards to be scouring a refuse train."

So they had known it was trash. That was a somewhat comforting fact. But I still didn't know where this was going.

"I could have taken care of myself." There was no way I had needed to rely on these kids. I was a soldier. I could handle myself.

"What were you planning on doing with the three squads waiting in the train yard? Forty-five trained soldiers seems like pushing it, even for one with such _astounding_ confidence." That dry voice was the silver-hair.

"What are you planning on doing on your own anyway?" The blonde interjected.

Three squads, huh? Well…That was a little overdoing it. Avoiding one I could see as possible. Two, virtually impossible. Three? Well that would be the squad that lounged about and threw things at me when I was finally hauled back by the brutes in squads one and two.

"How do _you_ propose to get out of this situation alive?" They could have their high and mighty attitude all they wanted; it didn't alter the fact that we would all be dead if I was found. Well, they would be dead. I'd more likely be strapped to an electroshock device and stripped of information that I didn't even have.

The girl with the guns smirked. "Answer Rikku's question, and I'll answer yours." 

I didn't want to tell them anything. Not then. They had stolen from me, thrown me from a train and made my clothes…very uncomfortable. But I didn't see another option. Didn't see much of a point of hiding my intentions anyway. Not if we'd all be dead in a few hours.

"I'm searching for a man." The four of them perked up at that, no doubt filling in their own back stories and reasoning. Wasn't interested; didn't care. "My sister said she'd found him…sent me to find him too."

"What do you know about him?" Yuffie crouched, hugging her knees and she looked up at me. Seems she no longer saw me as a threat. The others seemed to agree. "We could help you find him."

"Soldier. He went AWOL a few years back. Keeps to himself." I think I must have broke. Started spewing information I would have loved to have kept hidden. If trusting these females killed me, so be it; if trusting them killed the man I was sent to find, that was another matter, wasn't it? "Ellone said something about finding holy land, and finding him."

"Well. Then we'd best make our way down then." She sprang to her feet, the silver haired girl rolling her eyes. "Rikku, Paine, Yuna, what do you think? Think he can manage the way?"

The girl with the guns moved closer, prodding me with the barrel of one of her pistols. Yuna. "Don't fall behind."

And apparently to them, the way down was an old rusted vent cover about eighty feet from the room we had been in. It looked like it hadn't been opened in decades. I stood back, arms crossed as the shortest of the girls, the blonde – Rikku? – sauntered casually over, absolutely certain and without a doubt that they had made a mistake. Well, I was pretty much resigned to being caught then anyhow. Might as well sit down and enjoy the rest of my freedom. Could take the girls and see if they could be used as an alibi –

And the girls in question were pushing me towards the vent, the cover swinging silently on its perfectly operable hinges. They must have sensed my confusion at the time to see open air beyond the steel wall rather than the continuous dark of an encased ventilation system, because Yuffie was grinning knowingly.

"Where have you been living for the past year?" The others were watching me too, gauging their own impressions. "They dropped Sector 7; it's not there anymore. Well, it's _there_, it's just down a couple hundred meters." 

"Is this going to result in another train incident?" I could already see it coming. They would push me from the Plate and yell 'tuck and roll!' and we would end up as puddles amidst the wreckage. Girls were bat-shit insane.

"Not if you jump yourself." And Yuna had climbed into the vent, her form quickly disappearing over the edge. Rikku followed.

ooo


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be working on Repository…I just find picking on Squall/Leon irresistible

**AN:**** Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be working on Repository…I just find picking on Squall/Leon irresistible. And I had to finish at least one thing of Cloud in a dress, or certain people just might kill me in my sleep. I was sulking in a corner with this fic for awhile, and writing another chapter of it is somewhat of a 'ha ha, in yours' response for me (snarl snarl). So yes. And work probably dictates that Ordnance comes next or I will go insane.**

**Playing For Time****: 2**

ooo

The Slums has an odd sort of structure about it – one where everyone knew everyone without ever really knowing anyone at all. I mean, few people knew you by name, or occupation, or place of origin. But when it came to the rumor mill, everyone was fair game.

Everyone knew that eighty percent of the Honey Bee's staff had been scouted by the old lecher in the mansion. Everyone knew that the 'Special' for topsiders was different than the 'Special' for Slum dwellers. Or that the brothers who ran the gym had questionable pastimes. 

It was one of the reasons ordering a dress in my size was such a risky business.

Now don't get me wrong here; it's not like I suddenly decided at twenty-six that I wanted to wear women's clothing like some deep dark secret fantasy, buried deep and away. Far from it. I love my combat boots and issued cargos.

But I had a job to do, and in an area that had strict limits on who could come and go.

Namely, only womenfolk. 

Now, I've never _not _come through on a business deal once made. I've done some pretty dangerous and messed up deliveries over the years, some that even gave me a few unwanted souvenirs, but this was a little different. Yeah, I could have sent Tifa as a favor, but Corneo's house, mansion, bordello, wasn't a place for a lady. Even though I know she'd beat me within an inch of my life for doubting her ability to stand her ground. That woman has a terrifying anger.

It was Aeris' idea, in the end, mentioning in her soft and sweet way – as she tended her flowers, and smiled so enchantingly – that I would look so _beautiful_ as a woman.

I need to remember to never listen to that woman again. Or at least not when sitting drowsily in a shaft of sunlight near her intoxicating plants.

All _that_ left me with the issue of running about the streets of Wall Market, pulling in favors from various sources and trying to ignore all the stares and questions and snickers.

It looked like I would have to start concentrating my delivery service outside the city limits for quite some time after this. How long did it take for people to forget the sight of me in a dress?

One thing was certain: I was never going to accept another job from that man. That blue-haired devil would have to find a new package boy.

So there I was, trying to keep as much distance between me and my bike as possible while debating how I was going to be able to carry the shipment and still pass as a woman, when I saw him walking towards me. Well not towards me, per say, because he looked pretty out of it at that point. Probably still trying to work out how best to walk in wet leather, long brown hair still dripping stubbornly.

Now he looked like a military man, without a doubt. Just something about him that said 'watch out, I know how to kill you forty-three ways before you know what hit you'. The jagged scar between his eyes rarely meant he had a safer profession. But he didn't look like he belonged with the squads scouring the underside.

They had increased the city patrols over the last three days, and by increase, I mean they actually sent some troopers. Couldn't have found my spot, it wasn't me they were after. It had been over five years since – they had to have given up by now. Surely.

At least I hoped so.

But this man…he looked hunted.

I was surprised he had got this far, actually. If he didn't start trying to blend in more, though, he wouldn't get much further. This was the point where I had met Aeris, that first time. Really, it was thanks to her that I had been able to spirit myself away so easily then. I heard the losses had been a thorn in the President's side for quite some time after, though, and I wouldn't like to meet _Him_ again anytime soon.

_That _one was still alive, of that I was certain. He never could die fully, no matter how often you impaled him. And believe me; I'd had a number of chances.

"Come here." And I'm not entirely sure why I'd said that. Maybe it was because with the options laid out before me, it was the only one that sat right. If he'd gotten this far, he either had skill or a good deal of luck, both of which would be useful to have. That, and people didn't often risk going AWOL without something important pushing them.

I only hoped whatever was pushing him wasn't too great for us to handle.

I think Aeris was rubbing off on me.

The man looked like he wanted to bolt. He'd already caught attention; didn't he know that running now was not only useless, but detrimental to his situation? Others passing by had begun shooting glances our way, curious. Either he would come, or it was as good as turning himself in.

"This is what comes of you spending your nights with that hussy." I had latched an arm around his and began dragging him into a less public setting. Hopefully the others would write this off as nothing more than yet another domestic affair. The ones that knew who I was would no doubt start a few more rumors after this.

Out of the city. Yes, that would be best for business.

"What?" He was around my age. Twenty-one? Maybe less. He was stiff, and probably lacked a good deal of social skills, much as I had. Tifa was bound to make cracks about taking on an apprentice. 

He was fighting my grip now without much luck. Did I really look that effeminate that he thought he'd be able to win a match of strength? That shop-girl's father must have been better than I thought, even after dragging him out of that bar. Not that I would ever need to commission another dress…

"Be quiet, you have no right to act surprised after that." Bar?...no some of the squads might be there slacking off. Church was too far, we'd be spotted long before we made it that far. Things would go so much smoother if the damned man would just _stop struggling_. Alleyway it was. Risky, but better than drawing more attention than we had already garnered. And I had been right about the troops, three exiting the bar across the street just as we entered the shadows of the building's overhang.

I slammed him against a wall. It was more satisfying than I thought it would be, hearing a grunt of pain and seeing that brief dazed look in his eyes. It had been a very long time indeed since I had last needed to be rough with anyone. Now if he would just --

"Who the hell are you?" The man clearly hadn't seen the patrols. He was glaring now, hands gripping my wrists where they held his collar. Did he think simply being in Wall Market made him safe?

"That's really not important right now. I know who you are, and you're going to stay silent." They had noticed a commotion. Why did the patrol have to include a Second Class? Thirds and Rookies would have ignored it in favor of returning to the rest of their unit faster, but Seconds…they just _had_ to show off.

And they were closer now, with no guarantee from the soaked man in my grip that he would stay silent. So logically, there was only one course of action to select.

"Who do you think ---"

"Trust me." I swallowed his half-muffled gasp with my lips as I pressed closer against him, ignoring the uncomfortable cold seeping through the layers of my dress. Looks like my delivery would have to be put off for a bit until I dried off.

And he wasn't responding, which in itself wasn't entirely a bad thing. Last thing I wanted was for him to be turned on by kissing a man in drag in a dingy alley…and then having to beat him senseless for crossing his bounds. He had adopted a frozen disgruntled air, but at least he wasn't fighting back, even with one hand tracing through his wet hair as my lips moved against his. The soldiers would want a display before they would move on, and a display was what they got. 

What I expected to get afterwards was a ringing head and a good sized bruise when I left him go. The man was just glaring at me in a way that told me the whole trust issue was going too take far longer than I had hoped. It was always so much easier to expect people to trust you than it was to actually give any yourself.

"What."

"Are all women here insane?" He met my dry question with arms folded and his unrelenting glare.

Ah. I was in a dress still. That explained the lack of retaliatory action.

"Look, I have a business to run here, and because of you I've had to put that on hold. Now shut up and let me help you so I can get back to –"

"I'm flattered, really, but I'm not interested in what you and your _business_ can do to _help_ me." The brunet said dryly, pushing past and scanning the street.

A whore. He thought I was a whore. Indescribable and irrational anger shot through me at that, and really, I don't think I was entirely responsible for my actions, but with one well placed fist he was unconscious and slumped against the wall. 

ooo

Aeris was staring disapprovingly at me after I had laid my burden out on a bed upstairs. Tifa just stood leaning against the counter with a frown, cleaning rag dangling from her crossed arms. They hadn't said anything when I first entered.

Apparently bringing home a damp unconscious man wasn't as acceptable as I'd hoped, though I had a feeling it was more the dirtying the house on their cleaning day than the intrusion. 

"Cloud…"

Gods, it was Aeris' sympathetically disapproving tone.

"Look, I know. I _know_."

"He's the one they're looking for, isn't he?" Tifa shifted, one hand resting against her forehead. "Cloud, what the hell are we supposed to do with him?"

"You're always telling me I should care a little more."

"Yes, but you've never actually taken us up on that! We meant like helping an old lady shopping or giving a band-aid to a toddler!"

Aeris waved a silencing gesture at Tifa.

"The girls aren't back yet, there are patrols roaming the city and we really can't afford to draw any more attention. Cloud…" Aeris sighed from her seat at the kitchen table. "I'm glad that you're helping people, really, but you of all people should know the stakes here. We don't even know what he's done."

"That didn't stop you from helping me." 

I'd fallen through the Church's roof that day. Crashed right through the ceiling of the church and crushed all her precious flowers below. Any other person would have been furious that I had destroyed not only a perfectly good roof, but their livelihood in one foul swoop. But not Aeris. She had laughed, once I'd come around, and asked if I would be her body guard. Said I reminded her of someone she once knew, and brought me home with her. 

If that wasn't an act of faith, I don't know what was.

"Aeris, Tifa…look, I'm not sure why I brought him here; it seemed like something I needed to do. He just needs a place to stay for a bit, then I'll take him out to another town. Traverse. Maybe Twilight. Until then, I'm sorry." I had to get out of here, clear my head a little. "Tell Elmyra that too. Sorry."

"Cloud…" Tifa made a move to stop me as I moved for the door, but Aeris must have stopped her. She said something then; something that sounded an awful lot like '_he needs it'_.

Outside Elymra's house was one of the most beautiful places I'd ever been. Aeris and her adopted mother tended the expansive gardens religiously, and the air was always fresher here than anywhere in the world, even though it was still in the shadow of the Plate and its smog. Sometimes it felt like magic; a peaceful magic that answered only to the young flower girl. This garden was the essence of life.

It was then that life in another form bounded over, latching itself to my back and forcing a spin with its weight. Yuffie. A bundle of pure energy in a teenage body.

"How'd it go?" I was hoping for some new parts to sell to Cid, possibly some of the higher end models that had only recently fallen out of favor with Topsiders. A little extra pocket cash was always a good thing to help out around the house; pay back Elmyra for all she put up with.

"Not good. More guards than we thought." She was twirling something on a silver chain as she reported, but that really wasn't much use to me. Unless it could be sold for more than a few decent replacement parts. "I brought a present to help out, but it went and disappeared on us without a by your leave by the time we reached ground again."

"Whatever. I'm sure you four will find something worthwhile next time." It was a dangerous game they played, sure, but surprisingly it kept them out of bigger trouble by keeping them occupied. It also kept their skills sharp, and harried the government just enough to make life in the Slums that much easier. 

Speaking of making life easier, I had a job to do.

"Yuffie, I have a guest staying upstairs. I expect him to still be here when I get back, understood?"

She saluted whimsically, but I knew that she'd make it happen. And with that I set out to finish what I had started that day, dress and all.

ooo

Initially, when they had all jumped from the Plate and disappeared from view, I was a little skeptical. Who wouldn't be? The girls were like lemmings. But it proved to be more than I'd hoped for. 

There was a ledge, not far down, followed by a mountain of refuse from the fallen Sector 7. Massive cables and wires; the walls of houses, a mangled helicopter that got caught in the _unfortunate accident_. For an ordinary person, it would have been more than risky navigating the climb, but these girls…sometimes I swore they had wings. Even trained as I was, I had difficulty.

And they were busy chattering the entire way.

Now, I had no intention of staying with them my entire journey, or any longer than I had to, really. So it wasn't a momentous decision to walk away when I reached solid ground. Sure, they put up a fuss, but not for long; as there wasn't much they could still get out of me anyhow. Not of value at least.

I swore I heard the silver-haired girl say something along the lines of 'he'll be back.'

And then came the run-in with another blonde girl in a purple dress and glowing blue eyes, being manhandled and harassed, and finding myself unconscious for the second time in one day.

Honestly. 

And to wake up on a soft bed in an unfamiliar room…well, there are only two logical scenarios for such a discovery, and for a wanted deserter, option two wasn't very likely.

"I won't tell you anything, you know." I'd lasted under shock treatment before. I wasn't going to give them anything; not about Ellone, not about the man I was trying to find. "Better to end it now or let me go."

"What? And have Cloud-boy kill me?" That voice. "Sorry, Mister, your leather-clad ass is staying right here until he says otherwise. Well, once leather-clad. I'll have to congratulate him when he gets back."

Yuffie. The girl that had thrown me from a train. I was about to lunge at her then; grab a hold on her and just…I don't even know. Shake that knowing grin off her face, maybe. But then I realized she was right about one thing.

I wasn't wearing anything.

Which wasn't necessarily embarrassingly shocking, in itself. I just _really_ didn't like the way she was looking at me. You could tell that she had plans, and that those plans were definitely something to be avoided.

"Get out."

"What?" She actually looked surprised. "No can do. I'm responsible for you now."

"I won't run." Not until I had some pants on at least. 

Yuffie glared at me then -- actually _glared_ – as she sized me up. "I'll be outside your door. You try anything funny and I'll call Aeris on you."

"Whatever." I didn't understand how that was her best threat. Hell, I didn't even know who this Aeris was. With my luck she'd be a four hundred pound jailer with an addiction to onions.

"Pants on the dresser. And he'll want you to eat, I think. Dinner should be ready soon."

When she had left the room, I waited a moment, just to be certain that she wouldn't spring back in on me. Satisfied I stood from the bed and locked the door.

She must have heard the lock click, because she shouted a 'that won't stop me, you know' through the wood.

And I couldn't help but find that mildly disturbing, and stored the information away for later.

On the dresser were blue military issue pants and undergarments folded next to a new plain white shirt. My own clothes, the dirty mess they were, were draped across a chair nearby, belts piled on the seat. 

Well, it looked like there was no way I'd be able to wear _my_ pants any time soon. The water had really done a number on them. So even though I wasn't keen on the idea of wearing a uniform anytime soon, I found myself reaching for the only option available to me.

It wasn't long after that the dark-haired, self-proclaimed ninja girl was ushering me down the stairs into a…cozy kitchen. I'm honestly not sure when the last time was that I used that word.

A brown-haired woman was smiling at me pleasantly. She was even more disturbing, in a way, than the taller woman behind her, frowning ever so slightly with a fighter's air.

"Aeris, Tifa, this is Leon." Yuffie proclaimed proudly. I wasn't really certain what she had to be proud of.

And neither looked to weigh more than a hundred or so; one looking so mild and peaceful it was disturbing.

"Cloud's out back." The woman I was pretty sure was Tifa said sharply. She had a temper, it seemed, and  
I was pretty sure that she could back it up with some fine bruises. "He wanted to talk to you."

She didn't leave much room for argument with that. Maybe then I'd get some answers.

"Tifa…there's no reason to be like that." Aeris rose from her seat calmly, coming to take me by the elbow. She led me to the door and opened it, all the while smiling in a disarming manner. "Just up the steps. He'll be in the garden somewhere; you won't miss him."

He _was_ in the garden, it just took a little searching. That and the time it took to look beyond the sight of flowers. Flowers like this didn't exist here. They didn't exist anywhere I'd seen, but certainly not in the shadow of the Hallow Bastion. I think fate was playing a joke on me then. A glimpse of freedom within the confines of my trap.

He had his back to me, but even silent as I was, I knew he was aware of my presence.

Absurd blond hair taunted me, tufted out above what looked like a modification of an old uniform set. Right handed, left shoulder guard.

He was silent, waiting for me to make the first move.

I wanted nothing more than to disappoint him, but that would have got us nowhere. 

"What do you want from me?" They always wanted something. No one saves someone from good will. I still had my doubts I had been 'saved' at all.

"I think the question is what do _they_ want with you." That voice…blonde hair…"Because what I want changes, depending on what _they_ want."

"You…" 

He turned around then, just a subtle shift to look at me over his shoulder with pure glowing blue eyes.

I threw myself at him with the hope of landing one hell of a hard punch across his pretty little face. Being taken advantage of by a woman was one thing. Having a strange man in drag down your throat was another.

Didn't get very far. He caught my wrist faster than I could follow and I found myself hitting the ground. Hard. With a knee in my spine and my arm twisted at an unhealthy angle. So he'd had training…that was an interesting discovery.

I could only manage a cough.

"Yuffie and the Gullwings helped you down, didn't they. You were her 'present'."

"I'm not a possession." I spat out. Shiva, this was humiliating. To think that I had fallen this far in such a short amount of time. A week ago, I would have killed him for touching me. Three days without food, very little water and even less sleep made that thought laughable now.

I could feel him shift position, swinging a leg over me and bending closer. There was an uncomfortable feeling of heat between us, and the warm breath against my ear.

"Why are you running. What do they want from you. Who are you looking for. Where will you go." His knees tightened at my sides, and suddenly, completely unbidden, the thought that he had seen me naked flashed through my head. Wrong. This wasn't the time. Down into the little black box with thoughts like that.

I can't even remember the last time I was this close to anyone, and I hated that in its strangely perverse way…it felt good. 

"Like I would tell you anything."

"Like you're in a position not to." A hand snaked its way into my hair, jerking my face from the ground. "I could hand you over to them now; it would save the Slums a great deal of trouble."

"I have no reason to trust you."

"I didn't ask for trust. You've drawn the eye of some powerful people by coming here, and you've put a good number of us in dangerous positions." My arm was really starting to go numb. "Just answer me this: Why are they hunting you?"

"Let me go."

To my surprise, he did. Let me go, and sat back on the level path expectantly. I took a moment to get feeling back into my shoulder, just to be obstinate.

"Why?" Adamant little bugger.

Though he probably – no, _did_ - know I was in no condition to do much of anything. Withholding information was my last, my _only_ means of defense. I was _tired_ and I was _hungry_, and damn it, I'd just been thrown from a train, and leapt from the sky and sleeping on concrete and in cramped corners and _hurt_. 

"Because they want someone else." And that's really all there was too it, wasn't there. They didn't want me for any grand reasons or importance, just to use me to get at someone else. My sister, their errant assassin – I didn't doubt they had someone else they'd try to pry out as well. Maybe my father. Hell, they'd have just as much luck finding him as either of the others. I didn't even know his _name_.

If I could have brought myself to care a little more, it just might have stung.

"Who else?"

"White swans and black shadows," I snarled, getting to my feet, "with glowing eyes." 

I would find her. I'd find Ellone and tell her to stop fucking with my head and my future. What little was left of it now, anyhow.

ooo


	3. Chapter 3

A

**Playing For Time****: 3**

**ooo**

"He has wings."

Tifa looked up from the dishes, casting me a strange look. I probably should have been helping her. Drying, or something. I wasn't. I was sitting at the small wooden table in Elmyra's kitchen nursing a cup of tea, still thinking about what I was going to do.

I hadn't got very far.

"Wings. He has them on his back. Red ones. Two of them." The girls didn't really know what that meant; I hadn't explained it to them fully back then, and never saw a reason to remedy the situation since. It just seemed like an important thing to say. Like voicing it might make everything make sense in my head.

It didn't.

If anything I felt further away.

Detached.

"Like yours?" Aeris said softly from the foot of the stairs. She'd been upstairs, making our _guest_ comfortable for the last hour. "He's asleep now. Healed, clean, fed, sleeping. He was almost as bad as you were, Cloud."

"Good, he looked like he needed it." The care, not the experience. Though who am I to judge? Maybe he'd needed to be hunted like a dog.

It changed men.

"It sounds important to you." Tifa had moved away from the sink, crossing her arms as she stood over me. She wanted me to share, to express the ideas and emotions that were clamoring around with her so that she would _understand_. I didn't see how she seemed to think she could understand all the time when _I_ sure has hell couldn't.

The day I had appeared in the Slums, I was disoriented and confused. Delirious. Aeris told me I kept ranting about a good number of things, including _Him_, wings and shadows. I had suffered a massive burn across my right shoulder, the skin blistered and scorched. Hadn't let her touch it, touch _me_ until I had run dry and passed out from sheer exhaustion.

I can't even remember if it had been an accident, or if I'd done it to myself.

I only had one wing now. A gruesome demonic wing inked deep in my flesh. A reminder of who I had been. Classification of rank, of responsibility. Tifa didn't know the things associated with wings; didn't know they came at a high price and to men who were far from angels. This man was dangerous.

But then, so was I.

I had to get him away from here; as much for his safety as for the girls'.

Avoiding the soldiers wouldn't be the difficult part, not for those who knew the lay of the Slums. Avoiding the black ops _would_ be when they were sent in; them and their shadow pets. 

They were a new breed of terror; ones that rose from no one quite knew where. They had started appearing over the last year. They weren't men anymore. They had no heart, no conscience. Followed commands to the death.

The black ops had begun training these half-men in some of the less populated sectors of the Slums, picking off the thieves and low-life rabble on occasion. Then again, there was a chance it was a new group altogether. 

I'd been watching them since they began…it was only good sense to know who was in your neighborhood, especially when said visitors were arbitrarily slaughtering men in their training regimes.

If my suspicions were right, they came from the bowels of Hollow Bastion, in the basement of the central buildings and under heavy control. Maybe they thought it was an experiment, breaking and converting men into soulless berserkers.

That was the excuse they'd used on others.

But not all of their experiments liked listening to them. Who would? Scientists had a nasty habit of monologues to their own genius, and there was only so much of listening to that sort of thing before one started killing things.

_He_ was a good example of that.

"Traverse is a fair distance, Cloud." Aeris wasn't looking at him anymore, pouring herself some tea and moving about her business, "You'll have a great deal of land to cover without being able to rest for any lengthy periods."

"I'm coming with you."

We both, Aeris and I, turned to look at Tifa with that.

It was odd. She had a job here; a good life. Sure, she could beat me within an inch of my life with those fists of hers on occasion, but I really couldn't see her as a traveling sort.

"Well, that's settled then." Aeris smiled into her drink. I looked at her suspiciously. Never trust a smiling woman. "We'll all leave tomorrow morning."

We. 

All.

Had I missed something? 

Be careful, long distance…jovial road trip?

"I've already packed most of our things. We'll just need some food and –"

"You're not coming." I said firmly. What I thought was firmly; she ignored me and Tifa had nodded approvingly and they were still planning and I was here with my cold tea and they were – "_You're not coming!"_

Aeris turned to me then, smiling softly as she shook her head. "Cloud, you don't really think I'd let my bodyguard leave me alone for who knows how long while patrols are scouring the city, do you? I most certainly _am_ coming. And Tifa's choice is her own. So now all that's left is telling Yuffie when to meet us and packing a nice picnic for the road."

A picnic. I was attempting to smuggle a wanted deserter out of the city, and they were planning a picnic.

…well, if my life wasn't absurd enough already…

And Aeris was right, when it came down to it. No matter how much I protested this, it was Tifa's choice. Short of hogtying her in a locked closet, she'd be trailing us; even then, she'd probably end up chasing us down once she'd broken free anyhow. That woman was terrifying once she'd made up her mind.

ooo

A jagged scar ran between his eyes, over his brow and resting on his left cheek. It was a new addition; gained after his face had finished growing. It underscored the very real danger being around him might cause, and it drew my eye like a nagging reminder.

I didn't know what I was thinking.

Okay, so I knew on some level what I was thinking – I needed to help this man out of some misplaced concept of myself that I saw in him. Hoping that by helping him, I might somehow live vicariously and regain some of that exhilarating passion I had felt when on the run. Hunted; hunting. That surge of life I had almost forgotten here, running deliveries out the back door while keeping house at Seventh Heaven…

I needed out.

And to do that, really, I needed to break ties here – get up and go. 

I had enemies here though; powerful men who wouldn't like that in the least. If I was to leave the girls here, they'd be targets. So I didn't want them coming with me, and I couldn't afford to leave them behind. It looked like we'd be traveling in an entourage until we could find someplace safe. For them, and for him.

I watched him that night, propped uncomfortably in a wooden chair by the window. It'd taken some effort to make it in to the guest room without waking him, but I still didn't trust him enough to leave him alone with Elmyra and Aeris. Of course, that meant that Tifa refused to go home either, and Yuffie thought it was some sort of party – the girls had taken over Aeris' room and staged some sort of occasion that had lasted well into the night.

They weren't bothered by this strange man with blood red wings resting fitfully in the spare room. They weren't worried about the escaped assassin avoiding the authorities on clean linen in Elmyra's home. Aeris only saw an exhausted and bedraggled man in need of a good night's sleep. But then she only ever saw the injured paw of the lion, never the size of his fangs.

And so I was watching him for them; hoping I wasn't making a mistake by getting involved.

It was around three that I was shaken from my thoughts at the sound of a low voice, straining to appear collected - alert. So he wasn't as asleep as I had thought. "You don't trust me with the women."

"No, I just don't like you." I saw no reason to coat my responses, and I wasn't about to adopt any pretenses with this man. While he may have been awake, it was clear that a few hours sleep was hardly enough to allow the man to fully recuperate from his ordeal. He was dangerous, but at this point even Yuffie would have no difficulty subduing him, making the very idea of not trusting him around the girls now seem absurd.

"Then why help me at all?" Even in the dark I could see his eyes drifting closed, struggling to stay open.

I smirked. "I just don't like _them_ more."

Anything to piss off the army and their legion of scientists. He probably wouldn't remember in the morning anyhow.

"Your eyes glow…" The man murmured, no longer able to even pretend consciousness. "I've seen that before."

"Yes, they do." But he was asleep again. Which was for the best; we had a long journey in the morning. He likely wouldn't remember when he woke, but that meant less chance of there being a long string of questions.

Not many people knew that small fact about me - I didn't make it a habit of spending time in the dark with people – but what bothered me more than_ that_ were his last words. Unless they had started something new up there...it shouldn't have been possible.

ooo

When I woke, it was to a dull ache in my ribs. And shoulder, and ankle, wrist, head. My muscles were tense and sluggish – barely responding at all, really. I couldn't move, but I knew I would have to; couldn't stay too long in one place. If I'd fallen asleep, it had already been too long.

And there were blue eyes watching me, weighing me. Why – I couldn't recall for a moment, why I was in a warm bed, being watched by this man. And when I did, I moved quickly to sit up and move away – in that moment I couldn't help the wince, nor the way my arms gave out as I fell gracelessly back to where I had started.

There was a brief startled look that flickered across the blond man's face as though it was mildly unexpected.

"We're leaving today," The voice was flat, leaving little room to interpret his previous reaction, "moving by foot for the first portion."

Neither of us moved, the blond still watching me calculatingly, myself because I couldn't. At least, not without proving myself defenseless, and I refused to express that.

"You pushed yourself too hard." It wasn't a question; the man knew now I was having troubles. It wasn't as though I'd had time over the last few days to take care of myself though, but I had a feeling he already knew that too.

"I got thrown from a train." Getting knocked around by him and his little friend hadn't helped any either.

"It's more than that – unless a couple bruises are enough to stop you." The man stood, moving to the bedside as he spoke. "How long have you been running?"

There were hands on me then, kneading with firm pressure the muscles in my arms. I tensed at the touch, body protesting again at my actions. The man had no right to touch me. Most of all, I found myself wishing I was on equal footing with him. Or at the very least, had pants on.

It was a strange change from yesterday.

"Relax. You will need your strength." The blond was ignoring my protests, feeble as they were at the time. "When did you leave? When did you last rest?"

It took time to follow his command, letting my muscles ease under his touch; rough hands working feeling back into my limbs. He was still looking for information.

"What day is it?"

"Thursday."

Thursday would make it….what…."Six days?"

Nearly a week then, since I hadn't returned to the barracks.

"She pushed too far, then." He murmured to himself. "I'll see what I can do."

The fingers were probing now, running carefully over every inch of skin. I was having difficulty staying focused, the feeling punctuated every so often by a sharp jab of pain. I didn't flinch with all of them, careful to mask my discomfort while some barely even registered. The other man seemed to know, though, regardless of any indication where to press, following each with a firm touch that seeped into the skin. It was healing me, not nearly as all-encompassing as the warm green feeling of the woman before, but enough. Her touch had put me to sleep.

When the man pulled clear the blanket and moved to continue I caught his wrist, glaring back at him.

"You need your legs more than your arms." The blond said dryly, and I knew I was overreacting a little. "You don't need to worry about your innocence; I have no intention of taking advantage of you."

"Says the man who jumped me in an alleyway." This man bothered me. 

"I could leave you here. If you can't keep up, you'll only be a burden."

My arms were tired, but I couldn't argue that after his attentions they didn't feel better. They had their strength back. I decided it was better to be fixed up; I could deal with him later, once I was in better shape. "If you try anything –"

"I have better things to do than sexually assault an invalid." 

I could feel myself bristle at that. He was _trying_ to pick a fight, perhaps not knowingly, but it was there. He wasn't any more comfortable with this than I was.

But his hands were already moving, using my momentary distraction to continue as efficiently as a trained medic – as though he had dealt with this sort of thing on a regular basis. The man was good.

"Next time tell her not to overdo it. " His voice distracting me from focusing on the feeling of fingers tracing my thighs. "Aeris tends to feel the need to heal everyone completely the first time. – causes the body to seize up on occasion, can't handle the stress. The best solution is more time to sleep it off, but we don't have that luxury."

He paused then, probing carefully. "Roll over."

His hands were taking their time, thumbs pressing firmly into muscle, and while I was aware that my muscles burned there, feeling tight and unused…I was uncomfortably aware of the touch and evasive nudge of power seeping through those fingers.

"Why are you helping me?" I vaguely remembered asking that before, but I needed to distance myself from the feeling. "You have a life here."

The man was silent for a moment, his hands slowing to a stop. "No one has a life here. We just exist in the shadows." He stood, tossing a pair of pants from the chair. He didn't look at me again as he moved to the door, and it was clear he was done here. "You're just a convenient excuse to move on."

It wasn't comforting, and it wasn't much of an explanation, but it was enough. Better than the complete refusal of the day before.

ooo

When I trailed after him – across the creaking wood floor and down the twelve steps that led to the kitchen – I found myself once again confronted by _cozy_ and stifling _peace._ It was almost painful, like reintroducing a frost-bit limb to warmth. I didn't want to be there, surrounded by smiling women opening their house to me for no reason.

"Good morning, Sleepyhead," The woman from before was pulling me to a chair next to the blond – Aeris? Aeris. "You certainly took your time; we have a busy day ahead of us, you know."

As though I had forgotten the seriousness of my situation.

"Sleeping Beauty here had a hard time getting out of bed." The man responded dryly, nodding in thanks to the older woman as she placed a large plate in front of him. 

"Well I won't have you boys running off today without a good breakfast." She had to be Elmyra. There was another plate before me now – filled, stacked, packed with food. She smiled down, patting my shoulder indulgently. 

I couldn't eat this. I hadn't tasted real food since…the lunch before the day I left. Over a week, and then it had been what? The cafeteria was selling hot dogs that day. Dincht had stolen half of mine. I'd sustained myself on small portions of potion when I could. I'd had something last night – couldn't remember what it had been, and only enough to settle my stomach.

"Cloud –"

"The girls have gone to get the truck, right?" Aeris nodded to his question, moving her hands to indicate that I should start eating. She wasn't going to let up.

Cloud. That was his name. He had noticed my reluctance, eyes flickering from Aeris and I. He motioned to Elmyra while Aeris was distracted, muttering something to her quietly. The woman patted him on the shoulder as she straightened.

"Aeris, come outside with me a moment." She had come around the table now, sliding an arm through Aeris', pulling her towards the door. "You'll have to show me what to do while you're gone, and then there's the…"

Her voice faded as the door closed, muffling Aeris' mild protest.

And so we were left alone again, Cloud silently eating as though he had done nothing. That alone made me realize we could likely find enough common ground to be amiable.

"You will need to eat." He broke the silence in a calculated offhand tone.

"I'm not hungry." It wasn't a lie; the thought of consuming anything made my shrunken stomach ill. I knew it wasn't healthy, but I'd rather that whatever I consumed actually stayed down.

"You don't think you're hungry." He put his fork down, watching me closely. "You will eat."

"I'll survive."

"That wasn't an option." I swore I heard the phantom '_Soldier'_ tacked on the end. "I don't expect you to eat everything, but you _will_ have something _real_. Your body won't handle the strain."

He pushed away from the table then, going to rummage around in a pack set near the door. I was being mothered by everyone and I wasn't sure how much more I could take of this. Still, there was something about this man that made me realize that he knew what he was doing. I had just undergone a week of stress, two sessions of healing and an uncertain future that was still causing me headaches. I knew I needed something.

Cloud's hand emerged with a soft glowing orb.

…now where did he come across _that_?

I knew that the Slums had their own order regarding scavenging and the possession of goods, but it was still a bit of a surprise to see something like that in the hands of anyone outside the barracks.

He cracked it open, pouring the contents into a glass and letting the shell dissolve into the liquid before holding it out for me. "Start with this."

It was a stimulant compound being manufactured exclusively in the Organization's laboratories, affectionately coined 'HP Balls' by the soldiers. Take a few of those, and you'd be able to withstand a greater force and keep moving. They were favored by the reckless – those who preferred to rely on barrage attacks rather than skill. They took a great deal of damage, using HP Balls to patch themselves up later.

"Where did you find that?" I was careful not to spill it with my shaking hands. Hyne, I would need to get over all this attention soon – get back to self-dependence, move on.

"…They're dropped on occasion. Careless men."

There was something about the way he said it. I knew he was lying; his eyes watching too carefully as I drank the precious liquid.

Some men had gone missing from the barracks. Actually, the number of men to go missing had steadily increased over the last year, many of whom had volunteered to test the effects of these stimulants. They weren't officially missing, though – they were grouped in another division and never seen again. On occasion, we would hear of the squad training in the less populated sectors below Radiant, but we were never privy to the details. Sometimes they came back listed as dead. Before, I hadn't really cared.

ooo

I had seen that type of condition before. Hell, _He'd_ come back like that more often than I can remember. Body over-stressed, complete disregard for one's basic needs – I spent hours trying to coax him into taking even the shortest break for himself. It was a wonder I was able to perform my duties at all. 

In comparison, this man was hardly a challenge. Stubborn, but not even in his league. Sure, I took a risk with the HP Ball, but we didn't have time to step around it, and it was something he was familiar with. It was a quick fix. 

In a few hours, this man would be ravenous. I was sure he knew that – it was in basic training. Exposure to any sort of enhanced healing would increase appetite; he had now had three interventions. That, coupled with exertion…it was a good thing Aeris always packed large.

Yuffie chose that moment to crash into the house, stopping the door's ricochet against the wall with her foot. "Bike's chained down and ready for transport, Sir!"

There was a new silver pendant around her neck – a heavy thing that looked distinctly out of place on her. I knew why when the brunet tensed at its sight, coupled with an outraged "Griever!" A firm hand on his shoulder – nearly broke his collarbone - prevented him from throttling our little kleptomaniac. I'd have to resolve this issue later.

"Finder's keepers." She stuck out her tongue, making my grip perilous.

The table rattled under his fist, sending flatware skittering across the floor. "You stole it off my unconscious body!" 

"_Yuffie_!" This had to stop. "We will talk about this later. If everything is ready to go, then we go. Get out and wait in the truck."

She didn't like following orders. Never had. Not from anyone within a hundred miles of 'Hollow Bastion' at least. She made an exception some times for me; never quite sure why. With one last wink at the man forcibly sitting at breakfast, she'd scampered off, pulling the door shut with a bang.

"You get worked up over a trinket, and we're going to have problems later on." I muttered, letting go while I took a final swig of my glass. "You're not in the clear yet; if she knows that chunk of metal is important to you, she might go out and see how much it's worth."

He was staring holes in the table, his fists rigidly unclenched where they rested against the table.

"They'll likely be looking for something like that; it's recognizable." I'm not sure what compelled me, but for some reason I couldn't leave it at that. "I'll see what I can do. Later."

ooo


	4. Chapter 4

AN: I don't know if I like this

**AN:** I don't know if I like this. I can't even remember what it is entirely (it is a summation of my lecture notes all year, that's what it is…) I want my degree now. Will someone write my next three essays for me? -falls over dead-

**Edit:** apparently all my breaks between POVS disappeared when I uploaded. I apologize. Now I have to go through all my stories because I totally didn't even know.

**Playing For Time****: Four**

ooo

The sun was just over the horizon when we stepped outside – a bit later than I'd hoped to set out. 

The girls had already loaded Fenrir onto the flatbed of the small truck; one end supported by a few planks where it extended past the vehicle's end, lashed tightly down. Aeris, thankfully, was keeping Yuffie occupied in the cab of the truck, giving me space to take on Tifa before we went our ways.

The soldier seemed remotely sullen, his eyes roaming the gardens and beyond, keeping watch. I can't say I was entirely comfortable with having this man at my back, but while he hadn't _shown_ much aptitude in much of anything, those wings were a reminder that he was one of the best the Bastion had to offer. It wasn't encouraging, but Yuffie had inadvertently dragged us all into this man's fate, and I'd worsened it.

"We'll meet you a few miles out to drop the bike," She had her arms crossed and was looking at me in such a way that I knew I was in for _something_, "You'll have to move fast; they're locking down the city. Cloud—"

"We'll make it. We aren't heading out by the normal routes." Better to head her off; I didn't need her worrying over something we could no longer change. "You just make sure you're at the drop point for the arranged time."

She cast me a poignant look over her shoulder as she past, "Just remember your promise."

The soldier had his arms crossed and returned Tifa's passing glare with equal distrust. It was clear that without even spending time together, already they had established some sort of animosity.

Elmyra was standing peaceably a short distance away, her hands folded carefully before her. She didn't like me. She'd always had a dislike for strangers like me associating with Aeris and the dangers I brought merely by existing. Even so, I felt that I owed her.

"I'll take care of her."

"That man you've been working for – the one with the fiery temper –"

"Hades." I supplied. I hadn't known that she was aware of my dealings. Should have expected it.

"He's been asking around after you. Someone saw you with Mr. Tall, Dark and Brooding," she tilted her head slightly at the other man who was attempting to inconspicuously examine my bike. "People are moving…be careful."

"I'm sorry." Nothing ever went smoothly, but she was a strong woman. Sensible. "He may track us here; I've put you in danger again."

"Don't you be worried about me. I've been in the shadow of the plate for too long now; I think it's time to see the sky once more."

ooo

All things considered, they were remarkably unorganized this week. I was worried, initially, that even as well versed as I was in procedure – even as well as I knew most of the soldiers and their habits – even…even throwing my lot in with a Slum dweller who knew uncannily the paths to take before I'd said a word – even then, that I would be surrounded. Caught.

The men were neglecting their duties; more often muttering amongst themselves than patrolling the streets. If I had been less attentive, I'd have said that fate was on my side. That finally I'd had some luck after everything I'd been through. 

Before we'd left, Cloud had thrown on a tattered red cape, binding a tarnished metal set of claws to his left hand. The girls had fussed over him, he had weathered their concerns and we had moved out, leaving the small patch of sunlight and flowers behind.

There were other people smuggling themselves out of the city. Families, casting fugitive glances over their shoulders as they clutched whatever they could carry. They weren't Slum natives, their dress worn too much as disguise than habit. Top-siders; inhabitants of 'Hollow Bastion' making their way to the border towns.

There was something happening up there that was scaring them. Something I knew nothing about, and that…that was what disturbed me the most.

We were close to a small group. A family, two children scrambling after their parents over the debris. I don't think either of us heard its approach, freezing on instinct more than reflex just before the dark mass fell from above. Cloud already had his hand on the oar-like blade at his back before I had even come to a complete halt. He was quick.

It landed silently near one of the children – on all fours, bestial in its disposition. I could have sworn it was familiar, some vague recognition at its sight. It was nude; darkened skin as though its entire body was covered in angry black bruises. Nub-like growths protruded from its forehead, one long enough to twitch in time with its snuffling – as though it was following a scent rather than its glazed, sightless eyes..

The child had noticed the creature, letting out a terrified scream. The mother hadn't stood a chance as she moved between them, the sharp claws passing straight through her chest faster than they could react. I couldn't look away, even as it withdrew its blood-soaked fist, the woman's heart clutched delicately in its hand.

For some reason it ignored the others, even as they scrambled over the debris to get away, even as Cloud sprang forward, slicing it in half with one swing. It had been staring at its hand as though confused – as though it didn't understand its actions. An almost human horror at its macabre prize.

The blond man was standing over the severed corpse with a blank expression as he nudged it with the edge of his sword. Black blood congealed around his feet, misting where it hit the cold ground. As its head lolled to the side, I knew why he had been familiar with a sinking feeling in my gut. The dark inked scrawls of a tattoo across the left side of his face barely visible under the darkened skin. 

I was sick. This wasn't _real._

I didn't even notice when I had knelt, the blond's words breaking me out of my trance,

"Get up. If there's one of these things, there's likely to be more of them. We have to keep moving."

"That was a man."

"Not anymore." He was ignoring the broken form, carefully folding the woman's hands over her gaping chest and closing her eyes. He glanced up at me then, something akin to compassion in his eyes. As though he _understood_. A silent '_It couldn't be helped; it wasn't your fault.' _ I don't think I would have been able to handle it if he'd said it. "You knew him."

"Zell Dincht." Cheerful man – headstrong. Always tried to get me to open up, even when I shot him down. It felt so _wrong_ to speak of him in the past tense, because this wasn't him. It _wasn't._ "I saw him before I left – he wasn't…"

"He was a friend of yours." There it was again. This man didn't even _know_ him; he had no _right_.

I don't honestly know what got into me then, I couldn't move. I wanted to be angry – fight the man for what he had done. But what he had done was save innocent lives. What he had done was a response I would have taken, had I been able to match his speed.

"That outcropping will take us to Fifth Gate. We move to the cliffs, and catch our ride." There was a hand fisted in my shirt, dragging me roughly to my feet. I vaguely registered that he had pointed towards a portion of road that extended into nothingness; unfinished and abandoned.

"If our ride makes it out." I pushed off his grip, ignoring the cold eyes that watched me. I should have taken him with me. This was my fault; I was his squad captain.

"You can grieve for your friend once we hit the Pridelands. This is not the time or place for a soldier to dole out last rites."

"What do you even _know_ about me?"

"Squall Loire, codename: Leonhart. SeeD Command, Squad 8; Radiant Garden. Home: Sector 8 – Balamb." He didn't even look fazed at my angry retort, reciting things he shouldn't have known even as he scanned the area for more assailants. "Currently in the possession of one Yuffie Kisaragi."

He glanced at me once more before brushing past and heading towards the road. "Now get moving, or I'm leaving you behind."

ooo

I had done it again. I hadn't thought -I hadn't _thought_- before I moved, and once again I had done something terrible without realizing. 

_There was nothing else to do._

I hadn't stopped there. I didn't even give him the chance to grieve, not properly; not what he needed. I was moving once again on training and forcing that cold distance between action and reality.

_It was a monster, you did your duty._

It was a soldier – I had known that the first moment it landed; perverted and reconstructed by the scientists above. I had seen them transforming over the past months- the dark solider pets, the berserkers. I had known they were men, and I had still…

_Survive before you regret._

Survival was a matter of debate, wasn't it. Was it to emerge sound in body or mind? Was it finding life or redemption on the other side? If the latter, would could possibly forgive my sins?

_Keep him alive. Give him a new life._

That's what I was doing, wasn't it- seeking redemption through others who knew noting of my crimes. It was a futile effort on my part; I knew who I sought redemption from as surely as I knew I would never find it. All I was left with was trying to patch together small deeds from good people. A beggar, nothing more.

His movements were slow; a testament to the strain, fatigue, hunger. He would need to rest soon.

I was vaguely impressed though – I had thought that he would have had more difficulty climbing down the chain from the suspended bridge. It was a perilous exit, even for a man in complete health. I admit I thought I might have to catch him; trying to position myself inconspicuously so that I might break a fall.

It would have done nothing for his pride.

But he _had_ managed, and we moved on, ducking into shadows to avoid the occasional guard. Whatever was happening inside the city was keeping them occupied though – the air was split with screams on an increasingly regular basis.

I only hoped the girls had gotten out. But then, Tifa was a stubborn woman. They would be fine – I couldn't afford to believe otherwise.

There was doubt that we would be caught at all now, even should we be seen. Enough doubt to allow time for him to rest. It was clear he needed it, even if he refused to admit it. I found myself throwing orders at him without even thinking. That was his life, he was used to it. It was a habit that was too easy to fall back on.

"Stop."

He froze in place before the words even registered fully, casting a wary eye about, assuming a threat. Finding none, he looked to me for an answer. "We should press on."

"You will rest." There was the look of what…angry disbelief? He thought he knew best. The pride that refused to leave him.

"We haven't even cleared the shadow."

"They aren't concerned with us any longer. You will rest." I was still bothered by the thought of being separated from the girls, but we had made our choice and they had left early.

"You think the soldiers are taking the city."

He wasn't understanding – perhaps he wasn't trying, didn't _want_ to understand. Not associating the world left behind with the shadow creatures that consumed hearts. I couldn't blame him, but all the same, it frustrated me in indescribable ways. He wasn't strong enough yet to face the truth. And still, I couldn't blame him.

The soldiers weren't taking the city – the scientists were.

"We should –"

"The city has fallen. That world is lost." Even on the run he wanted to be heroic. Not all men are heroes- some just die for poetic ideals. It was foolish to think that returning would do any good.

There was a faint trail of dust in the distance where the road from Sector Four lay. That had to be them. "The survivors will find their way to safety. We have to look out for ourselves."

The trail was drawing nearer; I could make out the glint of sun on the hood and the form of someone standing in the back. This wasn't where we were supposed to meet, but it was on the way, and it would do. They had come to see if we had made it out. If we had been taken by the shadows. If I hadn't thought the same of them, my pride may have been sore.

The brunet tensed as the truck continued straight at us, skidding to a stop.

An older blond man sprang from the flatbed, spinning a pole expertly as he landed. He caught sight of Squall Leonhart, and that pole found itself pressed tightly against the man's throat – not nearly as quickly as the brunet had ducked his first swing, his hand finding the other man's neck.

I was impressed. Even exhausted, weak and surprised, he was able to pull off a stalemate. If the man had a weapon, I didn't doubt he would have won.

"Cid, Squall, back down."

Couldn't have them killing each other – we had too much ground to cover with an injured man, and not enough food to support another bout of healing.

"That fucker's the reason this whole thing started. You tell me to stand down while the whole damn world's goin' to Hell." The blond was angry, yes, but I knew he was aware on some level that this had been long in coming.

Squall's eyes had flickered to me when I had first spoke. It was clear that he wasn't happy with the situation, but I saw his arm tremble a moment before he released his grip.

"Cid." The other man didn't seem like he cared.

"He's one of them." _I _was angry now, and I had no doubt that he knew it, but he refused to back off. "We offer the fucker back and they might –"

I moved faster than he had expected, my hand finding his shirt, lifting him clear off the ground and slamming him against the cab of the truck. The girls had piled out of the far side at the noise, racing around to pacify the situation.

"Cloud, let him go." Aeris was watching carefully, "He was just upset about the soldier."

"You don't need to –"

"I don't ever want to hear you suggesting we send someone _back_ into that." Cid was a good man, he was just stubborn and opinionated – stuck in his ways.

"He's a soldier, Strife. They breed 'em for one purpose; best to send him home." He wasn't deterred. He was from Sector Seven, before the Bastion had dropped the plate. Soldiers would never be welcome in his mind.

All that aside, I wouldn't forgive him this. Not about one who was trying to leave that life behind. "His home is wherever he chooses to make it."

"He's a _soldier_."

"_So was I."_ I ignored the cry from the girls as Cid was thrown aside, motioning for the _soldier_ to help me unchain the bike. I'd used more strength than was strictly necessary, but he should've been fine from it.

Tifa had never been comfortable with the thought of my past associations, always trying to change me; make me care more for the planet, for the people. Aeris never questioned my choices, or my secrets, but disapproving in her own quiet way. The only one who seemed wholly unconcerned by the whole thing was Yuffie – she was happy just being given something important to do, perhaps even considering it more of a game.

"Can you hold out for another hour?" I asked quietly as we tilted the boards and rolled Fenrir to the ground. He had to be starving by now, but there was little we could do about it at the moment. Taking a pause in the city's shadow was one thing – having a picnic was another entirely.

"I'll be fine."

He was still – there was something on his mind that he was trying to work through and had yet to arrive at a conclusion. 

"Have you …" there was a quick glance over my shoulder at where Cid was muttering angrily around his cigarette to Tifa before he continued, "Have you ever met a woman named Ellone?"

I had become used to reading silence over the years, having mastered the language, and his seemed to offer a slight disappointment when I shook my head. I wondered what she had meant to him.

ooo

He smeared his palm across the ground, a dark trail of his own blood left behind, the other hand carefully covering it with a handful of sand. It was an old custom for Radiant Garden when no body was able to be buried; a ritual for the living to move on.

He did it silently, with measured movements, his back stiff under my gaze. I should have given him privacy – should have left for him to conduct this ceremony alone. But I didn't. I didn't, and he would never ask.

After a moment, he stood, turning to meet my watchful eyes.

"I'm going to rebuild it." He said it so seriously, as though he honestly believed it to be possible

"Maybe someday." I couldn't bring myself to contradict him. There was something admirable about his resolve.

The others were waiting just over the ridge, laying out food before our small caravan continued on into the desert. They would get antsy soon if we didn't reappear.

"We'll –" There was that darkness again, creeping into the peripherals of my senses. With the quick flick of my wrist, I separated one of the small blades from First Tsurugi, tossing it to the other man. I didn't have to say anything; already he had assumed a position with his back to mine, awaiting the darkness that was encroaching.

When they came, it was quick.

I heard the brunet engage first, and I relied on his fatigue holding off as I moved my sword to meet the others.

There were only five in total, but these creatures were much difference than the one we had encountered in the city. These were varied; two bird-like things swooping low from the sky and three hyena-sized shadows trying to ring us in. They all bore the same symbol here, though – something that hadn't been present on the other. 

I hadn't fought beasts in a long time. Fenrir could outrun the ones that were likely to attack, and the Pridelands didn't house many creatures that would, anyhow. It didn't make that much of a difference though; animals sliced just as cleanly as men.

It didn't take long; there weren't enough to prove a great threat, and they didn't seem to possess any sort of intelligence or direction in their assault. We cleaned off the blades in silence, fitting them back together and turning to head back to the others.

They didn't need to know. Not yet. We just had to be watchful, that was all.

"The old devil's been looking for you." Cid had grunted after we had taken our places on Aeris' checkered blanket, helping himself to her picnic.

"He'll have to get in line." It wasn't much of a surprise, especially after Elmyra's warning.

"All I'm saying's that you need to take some damn time to think ahead, blend in some." Cid still wasn't comfortable being near the brunet. He had gotten over my revelation rather quickly, but for some reason the courtesy only extended so far.

Aeris was acting as a buffer between the two; there just as much to pacify the men as to ensure that Yuffie- who had latched onto the soldier's arm – didn't annoy the man too much. She'd seen to his hand the moment we had reappeared over the cliff, tying a short bandage around the appendage from her bag. She wouldn't risk the faster way; he was tired enough as it was.

I will admit that seeing him attempt to stuff his face while fending off the teenage ninja was highly entertaining. Even more so when he was clearly attempting to not look as though he was doing so. He seemed to be improving with his social skills, but who was I to judge – even _I_ still had difficulty dealing with these people over extended periods.

"The nearest city is Agrabah. He won't find us, and we won't be there long."

"Agrabah?" the brunet interjected, one hand halfway to his mouth. "Isn't that Jafar's territory?"

"Yeah, and it's fucking right next to Hades' home base."

"Now Cid," Aeris smiled, offering the older man a drink.

Tifa wasn't looking very happy at the prospect either – only Yuffie seemed to be optimistically thoughtful; I would have to watch her.

"Jafar isn't looking for us, and Hades won't find us in the east end. We just avoid the Coliseum, get our supplies and get out."

ooo

It was a closed world; closed off and tucked away from the rest of the planet. Only one road led by it, barely even grazing the city at all before carrying on its way. A harsh world, surrounded by sand, unforgiving. Her people were much the same.

The ruling class was closeted away in massive structures and excessive luxury, hidden from their people and withdrawn. Authority here was doled out by the Imperial guard, led by a corrupt Vizierate who endorsed – and often took part in – dark trades; a black market that dealt in everything from laundering of wealth to the exchange of lives. Never directly; no, that wasn't the way.

I had spent time here once, running a delivery for Hades to the coliseum in the east district. It had been a tricky job. I spent more time avoiding confrontations than actually making contact with the second party. Almost had my pay lifted by a monkey in a fez.

The ex-soldier would need a weapon.

Though I wasn't keen on entering the city proper again any time soon, we would never find a better place to acquire the best quality arsenal to choose from.

"Leonhart." The brunet glanced my way from his unusual conversation with Aeris. She was helping him open up. That was good. "Specialty?"

I knew he had a good handle on swords; he'd proven that across the Pridelands. But that piece of First Tsurugi hadn't looked comfortable in his hands, and it was clear that it wasn't responding to him in a way that he was familiar with.

"Gunblade." He muttered as he came to join me, leaving Aeris to wander off to find the other two girls.

Well that was a bit surprising, but it explained why he seemed to brace before each strike – calculating for a recoil that First Tsurugi would never have. I had never met a man who had specialized in that particular weapon; had always thought it was a failed invention. Most who picked it up in training would eventually switch off to either a specialty sword or perfect their aim. An unusual weapon for an unusual man, I suppose.

…they were close to a collector's item now. He certainly had high expectations.

"Cid, I want you to play nice." The man shot me a disgruntled glare, no doubt as offended by my youth as by the insinuation that he would be anything less than civil. "You will stay here. No one is to wander off or enter the city."

"And where the hell do you think you're off to?" Cid threw his cigarette to the ground, grinding it under one heel. He and 'Leon' were none too subtly shooting each other dark looks.

"To get supplies."

"Bullshi-"

"_Cid_!" I was glad the girls were far enough away that they paid little mind to our conversation. "Would you have me take you with me and let Leonhart stand guard? Would you, Leon, have me take you into a part of the city where they may care to call in the bounty on your head?" Neither man looked likely to argue the point. Leon likely _would_ have been safe to tag along; it was unlikely that anyone in Agrabah would care to make deals with their neighbours in the Hollow Bastion, but _I_ felt better knowing that there was one more fighter stationed by the girls.

Once again, I knew Tifa would throw a fit to hear it, but the fact remained that it was a dangerous place and the more precautions the better.

"I'll be back in a few hours. Stay out of trouble; stay out of sight."

With First Tsurugi was strapped securely at my back, I pulled the red cowl up to cover my face as I cast one last glance back at our small group of misfits, setting out towards the bright flags of main street.

ooo

"Strife told you to stay here."

I was bored out of my mind, standing around the vehicles awaiting the blond's return, but he knew what he was talking about. If he thought staying put was a good idea, I wasn't about to argue. I'd heard a good deal about this region and was inclined to agree with the idea that there was strength in numbers and intelligence in setting up an attentive watch. He had charged me with watching this group and protecting them – and while they themselves clearly didn't see it that way, I knew that was his reasoning for leaving me behind with them. 

They were important to him. It was an honor.

The self-proclaimed ninja girl seemed to feel that his order didn't apply to her, and she stuck out her tongue at my words. "He didn't tell me, he told you. Besides, I'll be back before he even knows."

She darted away.

"Well shit." Cid's voice echoed eerily my sentiments, and for once he shot me a look that sought a plan. A course of action. Cloud was his leader, and in his absence the man auto referred to the next in command. 

The look didn't last long though. He still held his animosity, which was quick to resurface after he realized his mistake.

It took no more than a heartbeat for me to decide, striding past the glaring man and away from the others. "I'm going after her."

"Like hell you are –" But I could see that he honestly wasn't sure what the best course of action was. Letting an under-aged girl run rampant in a city of thieves, gangs and corruption was hardly an option though – especially since neither of us really wanted to see the blond's reaction once he discovered we had let her leave.

I didn't hear the rest of his response—I'd already past out of earshot, following the path I had seen her take as quickly as possible without drawing attention. 

It took some time to find her, darting, strolling and sometimes climbing through the tight streets. People were everywhere.

I'd never been a fan of large crowds, and twice already I'd had to frighten off potential pickpockets. Not that I had anything much worth value anymore anyhow.

She was stealing too. She was _good_ at it- better than the others lurking the city, but if one _watched_ her…

And I wasn't the only one watching.

The Imperial guard had been trailing her for three blocks. Somehow I knew that having her thrown in jail wasn't an option, despite how much I wanted the little thief to be taught a lesson.

"Beautiful beads for a beautiful lady!"

I side-stepped a slim hooded woman pushing by, only to be harassed at the next stall for various other, equally useless, wares. A man was watching _her_ from atop an awning across the way, a small fez wearing monkey dancing angrily beside him. 

In that moment, I lost the ninja.

I found her again in a deserted coutyard two streets over, struggling with four armed guards - slowly being ringed in by more. If I had been smarter, I'd have backed away and left the way I came.

I didn't.

"Let go of me, you ugly old man!" She stomped on one man's foot, catching sight of me and running forward.

That turned their attention. That involved me. There was no longer any chance of strategy; I had to make due with my hands.

The fist man who lunged fell with a quick twisting blow to his neck. The second, a heavier set man with deep-set eyes, was dropped by a kick taking out his knees. The others were more cautious, drawing swords and closing the circle.

There was the irrational – or perhaps entirely _too_ rational – burst of fear that I would be sent back into the waiting jaws of Radiant Garden. Hollow Bastion. Have my heart torn out by sharpened claws and strapped to a cold table in the bowels of the Plate.

This was it. I'd gone and done something stupid, and I was going to die for it. I'd failed.

"We can take them." She hissed, bracing herself for a fight.

"No…we can't." 

Other men were slowly stepping out of the shadows, light glinting off their curved blades. There were too many of them; if we were to fight head on, we would be overwhelmed, injured and alone in a city waiting to tear us apart. The only recourse we had was to go with them, or die.

She pressed back against me then, realizing the same thing I had, trying to disappear through me. I wasn't sure what I had to offer her. I didn't know what she wanted from me.

I didn't worry long though – the blow I knew was coming came almost casually from behind.

The girl caught me as I slumped forward; her hands, her shout the last I felt before I succumbed to unconsciousness.

ooo

We were in a bad place. 

It was dark, wherever we were; dark and filled with the stench of blood and sweat. My hands had been manacled together, and from where I lay – cheek pressed into the ground – I could see the slumped forms of others who shared our fate. Dejected. Broken.

There was the unfamiliar sensation of arms wrapped tightly around me and a cold damp patch across the back of my shoulder that _meant_something…it had to be Yuffie that was so close; was she bleeding? So we hadn't been killed…was she _bleeding_? I'd heard this area took limbs for theft…

I struggled to sit up, shifting her weight from my side to assess the situation. A sweeping sense of dizziness struck me at the motion, and I choked at the sudden impact of the girl launching herself at my chest. Her arms were intact. She didn't seem to have any lacerations or wounds. So what…

"Are you hurt?" 

She punched my shoulder roughly and pushed away.

The faint light that filtered in betrayed wet streaks across her face. She had been crying. Over me? No…that was a ludicrous thought.

"You sure go down easily." She snorted, scrubbing a dirty fist across her face in an attempt to hide her tears. "I'm hungry."

I ignored her, working at the manacles to see if there was any give. She was fine and in one piece; that was relief enough. The immature side of me wanted nothing more than to tell her this was all her fault. That if she'd just stopped being a damn child for _one minute_ we would be with Aeris and Tifa and Cid and Cloud and we would have _food_ and _not be held prisoner_. But that wouldn't do anything to help the situation, and she was a female civilian…something I had very little experience with; a soldier would accept the responsibility, I highly doubted _she_ would see it as such. 

"…Leon?" She spoke in a soft voice, entirely unlike the brash girl I had come to know over the last few days which gave me pause, "What are we going to do?"

I let my arms drop in my lap, trying to figure out what _I_ was supposed to do in a situation like this. Couldn't have her panicked and emotional; I wouldn't be able to deal with that. There were others here though…if there was any way out they surely would have found it.

"Do you know where we are?"

"Abdul Fattah's holding pen." The voice came from my left, tired and dull. It was a young boy, no more than sixteen despite the grey matted hair pulled back from his pale face. "One of the many filthy cut-throats that work for Jafar."

"…holding for what?" The boy sounded broken; I didn't like that tone.

He lurched to his feet, crossing the distance to where we sat and crouching close. 

"That depends," he said in a quiet voice, watching us with intense eyes; wary and curious all at once, "on the customer."

Yuffie seemed outraged at that, and the boy quickly clamped his hands over her mouth, nervously scanning the room, eyes lingering where I could make out the outline of bars.

"…when Megara was here earlier she mentioned that someone had requested an audience. A noble, high class." The girl had seemed to calm down now, and his hands were slapped away. He didn't seem to mind.

"Megara?" 

"…yeah. You want me to do something about those? You won't try to kill me or anything…" I shook my head and held up my hands for him to inspect the cuffs, not surprised to find that he had pulled a small metal pin from his hair. "She works for Hades, but…she's not that bad. She's like us…in a way."

I wondered just how long he had been here, but he looked like the sort to avoid any kind of personal questions. I wouldn't blame him; I was hardly the sort to start spilling my past to a cellmate to pass the time. He had been here long enough to have some answers, and that was enough.

"Leon. This is Yuffie." It was best to start small.

"Riku." My wrists felt lighter as the metal fell to the sand with a dull thunk.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** Riku is a bastard of a writer's blockade. Also, Abdul Fattah should have been Gazeem, but what's done is done, and I apologize for having to create a ridiculous place-holder name. That is all.

ooo

**Playing for Time: Five**

ooo

It was storming that night – the night the darkness took me from the islands; torrential rains, palms bending to kiss the sands…He'd come to check on me, knowing instinctually that I'd have felt the need to check on the raft. He always seemed to know.

I was fourteen.

There was rain, and there was wind, and there was one massive wave. I hadn't seen it. My back was turned, looking back at him, content in knowing he had come. He was running towards me – I didn't discover the true reason _why_ until the dark waters had engulfed me, pulling me under.

I was fourteen, and I was invincible.

I had woken up in a cart pushed through Port Royal, chained to enchanting creatures with seaweed in their hair, and shells laced into their clothes. The creatures didn't acknowledge me; wouldn't speak to me. If the stories were true, I don't think they knew how.

The owner of the cart, I discovered, thought I was one of them; one of the soulless inhabitants of the deep, a daughter of Atlantica, despite indications otherwise.

My throat was burned raw from the salty seawater; it took me three weeks to regain a voice – anything more than a cracked whine. I don't know how I didn't drown. The Alanticans were sold off in the fish markets one by one. No one would buy me; I wasn't like the other creatures.

I say creatures, because they weren't human, not anymore.

The old woman on the islands used to tell the tales of shipmen she had known, and the children had listened with rapt attention whenever she spoke. In the midst of storms, clear voices would rise above the waves and thunder, singing songs in a language none could speak; voices that drew boats to their doom on rough crags and sharp rocks. Sailors were dolls to them, the vile and poisonous creatures, dragging them to the depths and safeguarding their bones.

Those parts of the story always had the children covering their eyes, praying that no mermaid ever replaced them with pearls.

Port Royal made a business out of catching them; selling them to the highest bidder from faraway cities.

None of the creatures I had been shipped with had the long, barbed tails from the stories, only a nearly indiscernible webbing between their fingers and toes…the work, I discovered, of an old sea-witch that worked on contract with the traders. She kept the barbs and venoms, they got nearly humanoid cattle. I'm sure she got more out of the deal, but that was all I ever learned.

I had nothing for her to take. At least, I didn't think I did.

I was sold, eventually, to Abdul Fattah when the cart travelled farther from Port Royal, past cities and headed towards a city of metal.

…Which isn't entirely true, I suppose.

I was sold to a man named _Ansem_ who bought by proxy, lived in a metal city in the sky and never came to collect. I was _stolen_ by Abdul, who had recently stolen a lamp. I'd tried to stop him. He took me too.

It turned out that he thought I was a monster. Some type of magical creature that could bring him wealth and riches beyond his wildest desires. A Djinn. He took me, because he thought I was tied to the lamp; that so long as he had possession of it, I was his. I hadn't disappeared on him either, so perhaps that was indication enough for him that he was right. He clamped two iron bracers on my wrists as a mark of his ownership.

As far as I'd encountered during my time with Abdul, I had never seen anyone who looked quite like me. They were all dark skinned, dark haired, dark eyed…I was an oddity, exotic. Pale skin that never burned, light hair, green eyes. I couldn't blame him for thinking I wasn't from around there; I mean, even the men at the docks hadn't been able to place me.

He was a stupid man, dull and spineless, but he was superstitious and kept me under lock and key- thought I brought him luck. There was a great deal of things I could get away with in his holding cell, many of which were good for reinforcing his vision of this creature he perceived me to be. No one in his cells would touch me. Megara kept me informed of things happening outside in the city, and I was never caught unawares when Abdul was bringing in potential buyers. I'd even fed him useful information on occasion – whenever Hades was plotting to have him killed.

It kept him entertained and comfortable, and that was what I needed.

He wouldn't sell me. He couldn't sell me, and there was some sense of safety in that.

I was sixteen when the ex-soldier and the spunky teenage girl were thrown into the picture.

I was sixteen, and I was jaded.

ooo

"There are three divisions here," the man was watching me closely, probably trying to assess my character. "The highest and best looked after are the fighter class. You have power, you have skill, you'll be sent to the Coliseum. It's as close as you'll get to a sport around these parts; you have a chance at celebrity and possible freedom in the ring. Next comes the servant class. If you have no particular skills, and no real attractiveness, you'll be auctioned off to serve the minor nobles. It's a decent life. Better, some may say, than fighting the monsters in Hades' underworld."

The scarred man nodded, scratching absently at his cheek as he thought deeply about his situation. If he cleaned himself up, I could tell he would be attractive under that beard. I suppose beard was a little generous. It was clear that he regularly kept himself clean-shaven, but he hadn't had that privilege for some days now.

"And the final?" Yuffie glanced across at me, tossing a handful of sand to the side. "You said there were three."

Leon knew what I meant. The third class was worth less than a stable hand; the subject of ridicule and abuse from a vast portion of society. Only those who joined the royal household held any sort of worth, and even then…

If the girl couldn't fight, it was almost certain to be her path. Potentially his, too, if he wasn't careful. He should keep the beard; made him look that much more feral.

"And to avoid the third?" He was carefully avoiding eye contact with her.



"Don't look the part."

"_What_ part?" She still had no idea.

She had no idea when Leon's fist caught her eye either, a short backhand catching her jaw. The force threw her to the ground, and she let out an angry shout, wiping a hand across her chin. The blood from her split lip smeared across her skin.

"You _hit_ me! _Twice!_" Her fist was aimed at his nose, but her hit missed as he moved, letting the punch graze his right cheek. A broken nose would be an issue here without attention; he'd taken a calculated blow. He let her land a blow to his solar plexus though – a brave man; it had him stunned for a moment as he caught his breath.

She didn't retaliate further though, tentatively pressing the bruising flesh around her eye. It would swell soon – he'd hit with enough force to leave quite a mark. I wouldn't have been surprised if she found it hard to see around it when it started to heal. He knew what he was doing, I'll give him that. She looked like trouble.

Very few would risk a purchase like that.

Abdul's thugs had come at first light; on cue, as they always did.

They had retreated by then –Leon and Yuffie - resting against the far wall, their issues set aside for the moment. I saw no need to wake them. I didn't really want to get closer to them anyhow. The girl reminded me of another one, a distant one- one that was probably so wrapped up in that beautiful light I'd left behind she didn't even know I was gone.

He'd probably forgotten me too. What need does a light have for darkness?

They entered without fanfare or stealth; there was no one to impress here. Leon stirred, as though he knew something was happening, but there was so much noise on a constant basis that I was certain he couldn't place it in his half-conscious state. Whatever training he'd had, it looked like he was letting it slip.

They went to him first.

He stood slowly, pulling Yuffie up with him amidst a ring of swords. Flimsy and untrained, swords. I'd seen many fighters over the last two years- this Leon could have taken most of the men had he the mind to. What didn't make sense was why he didn't. Why he had been caught at all.

It wasn't until I noticed him consciously placing himself in such a way as to block the girl from the men.

"Out of my way." Abdul ploughed through the men, coming to stand in front of the scarred face. Below it. He barely reached Leon's shoulder. "Your hand. _Hand."_

Leon merely glared at him, forcing the stout man to grab the brunet's arm himself when the two swords flanking him rose to graze his neck.

Abdul turned the man's palm in his hands, examining it expertly with his fingers. "You have the calluses of a marksman, but your build suggests otherwise. That's good. There will be no projectile equipment available to you."

"But a sword would be?" He said, dryly. Critically.

Our jailer smirked, releasing his grasp and motioning to the other men. "Perhaps yours – if you can hold onto it. You will have need of it should you be used in the arena."



Two men grabbed him by the arms, one advancing on Yuffie and the others herding the rest of us towards the cell's door.

"What are you – " she was struggling, kicking out at the men and pulling towards Leon who refused to move.

I was glad to hear the woman's voice that cut through the cell - I'd have hated to have known what might have happened if she hadn't appeared then.

"Abdul, get your filthy hands off the girl." Megara, the coliseum's own belle. She would be in good hands. "She _is_ a girl, right? You know the rules regarding Amazons, and Athena _strike_ you if you cross them."

"My sweet Megara, we were just going to clean -"

"She will be ready for the Coliseum. You get the rest of these brutes out of here - you've done enough damage." There was a wince on her face. "They did a number on you, didn't they? Men are all the same. Come along now, don't fall behind."

ooo

When I had returned to find Leonhart and Yuffie gone, I had been…frustrated. Mostly at myself, for trusting that someone _other_ than myself could keep the people I cared about safe. At Leonhart, for not following my orders; at Yuffie, for - well, mostly for the same thing. From what little I got out of Cid, the two had disappeared together a few hours after I had left – they hadn't returned by nightfall.

It was then that I began regretting. Regretting placing faith in someone, and once again being disappointed and betrayed. I made a decision then to find Yuffie and move on. I hadn't been able to find a weapon for the man, but now it seemed like he wouldn't be needing one.

He deserved his fate.

Four hours of searching took me through every street in the city core, the red cowl keeping me hidden from a superstitious populous as much as from being recognized from both Hades' men and Leonhart, should he still be around.

It was somewhere in the north end of the Bazaar that I found a clue - a silver lion grinning up at me amidst the gaudy baubles, its thick silver chain snaking away towards a grinning merchant. A short man, with wide gaps between his teeth.

She wouldn't have sold it, not here. They wouldn't have offered her enough for the trade. Many things here would have caught her attention, but regardless of her focus, she was only ever interested in quality and these were nothing of value.

"Ten for the cheap silver trinket." It was a start. There was a chance that the man had some information about where she had ended up - at the very least, where Leonhart might have got to. If I found the soldier, I was certain I could force an answer out of him regarding the girl.

"Ten? Are you insane?" The man snatched the pendant, dangling it in the light with dramatic flair. This is why I rarely went shopping. "This beauty is a hand-crafted, one of a kind, pure silver piece of art! Very fashionable these days. Would look beautiful on any woman. Fifty."

"Original?" I crossed my arms, staring him down. I didn't care about the necklace; buying it was merely the means to an end, I had no intention to shell out a small fortune for it. "Funny, a friend of mine had one just like that yesterday. In fact, both she _and_ her necklace went missing around then. Ten."



He was nervous now, clearly wanting to have the transaction over so he could get back to swindling unsuspecting shoppers. He hadn't expected someone to call him on stolen merchandise. "A joke. A funny one, at that! No finer piece in all of Agrabah!"

"Ten for the necklace. Twenty for some information."

"…What about?" the man hunched over, casting a wary glance in either direction conspiratorially.

"A girl came through here yesterday, possibly accompanied by a dark-haired man. Small, pale. She wouldn't have bought anything."

"There was a thief, came by - almost had her hand for some apples. Young man stepped in, said she was his sister. Looked fascinated by the city, clearly not from around here."

It certainly_ sounded _like Yuffie. If Leon had saved her a limb, perhaps he deserved a higher opinion than I allowed him. "What happened to them?"

"Taken off to the palace dungeon. Looked like a fighter; might end up in the ring if that devil man finds'm."

I tossed him the money, catching the silver lion from the air as I walked away, leaving the man grinning. I'd paid him extra. Tifa wouldn't be happy if she knew how I was spending our funds. It would have been cheaper to just drag him into an alley.

Locating and entering the royal prison was far less difficult than one would imagine. I had been trained for this sort of thing - to move like a shadow and disregard barriers, walls, impediments. It helped that this particular prison held a warren of secret passages and tunnels to the outside gardens. Terrible idea, that, if you wanted to keep people in _or_ out. But then, nobles were rarely noted for their intelligence.

A monkey had followed me in; he'd refused to leave after I had caught him trying to divest me of that damn necklace. It started chittering loudly inside the dank stone chamber, and I came close to strangling the little primate then, but I caught sight of a man slumped against the far wall. Well, not really slumped - his hands had been shackled above his head, forcing him to remain in a seated position.

It wasn't Leonhart.

I turned to leave, but the beast bit me, yanking at my hair through the fabric of my cowl fiercely and pointing.

"Abu?" The man was straining to see us now, a hopeful note in his voice. "Over here, Abu!"

By all rights, I should have left. If they weren't here, they were either dead or being held elsewhere. But then, there was always the chance of information. Yuffie and Leonhart weren't here, but perhaps they had been. Perhaps the man would prove an unexpected aid.

I crouched at his side as the monkey went to work at his wrists, pulling a set of lock picks from some hidden pocket in his miniature vest. "How long have you been here?"

He was watching me carefully, warily. With good reason. "Yesterday. Got caught in the Bazaar. Razoul was ecstatic, I'm sure."

"Was there a girl taken as well, or another man?"

"…Jasmine." He swatted at the monkey who was doing a ridiculous impression of what I assumed was a girl. He had some humour to him, despite the disparity of his situation. "She wasn't taken though. She -"



He broke off, staring at me as I pulled the cloth down from my head.

"…Have you come to kill me, Djinn?" I had forgotten some of the customs of this region. Covering myself had been habit when running things for Hades, so much so that I had forgotten it had a reason. The only individuals who looked drastically different were past the coliseum, cloistered away near and on Mount Olympus. They were revered as gods in some way; gods or monsters, who rarely stepped beyond the shadow of Olympus. It was the superstition here that Djinn were malevolent tricksters, usually imprisoned and working on a master's command.

"You will come with me. I have questions, and this is no place to speak."

ooo

Of course they would be in the one location I had no intention of seeing again. Of course they would. It was dangerous, it was restricted, and I was more than likely walking into a trap if I ever showed my face there. That was Hades' territory, and I had a strong suspicion that he hadn't forgotten about our little contract.

Finding Aladdin had been a fortunate accident.

He was foolishly infatuated with some air-headed princess locked in her gilded palace; _I_ needed a weak-willed noble to move on my command. We compromised. Somewhat.

I supplied the materials to woo his lady, he agreed to first accompany _me _to save Yuffie. He thought we shared a common purpose - he was naively noble like that.

It was a strange game we played. Agrabah had, over the years, become socially dependent on the Coliseum that existed on its border. It became almost _required_ in a perverse way for all of Agrabah's nobles to participate in the spectacle, pitting champions against those from Mount Olympus, or from the creatures Hades procured. If you had a title, you had a fighter.

It was that custom that I had to rely upon to find a way in to the holding pens, and Aladdin proved a useful key.

We had been able to set up an audience through some men near the palace grounds - a shady business, since while all nobles had them, none spoke of where they had come from. It was uncultured to ask, and a death sentence to imply anything as disgraceful as kidnapping.

He'd expressed more arrogance than I thought he could muster, and that had secured us not only the ability to bid, but a pre-screening with the possibility of cutting a deal. Which was why I found myself standing behind a nearly transparent curtain next to the Grand Vizier, watching the latest batch of prisoners file into the communal baths.

I was covered completely with the formal dress of a royal household, a woman, as Aladdin assured me that it was the only means to keep myself concealed without suspicion. He knew the customs better than I did, and I couldn't risk drawing attention to myself until the deal was secure - which also meant waiting for him to play his role as royalty. I was angry with Aladdin for leaving me here, though; I had wanted to ensure Yuffie's safety, not play the part of his retinue. Then again, I had no desire to watch the girl bathe. She'd kill me if she found out.

It wasn't hard to pick out the soldier amongst the others. He wasn't much taller than the other men, and his build wasn't so different than a few of them. But there was nothing broken about him. He had no means to cover his pride. It wasn't necessarily a good thing.

He felt disdain for the guards, and moved with a strength that had them training their swords on his back. I didn't doubt he could have easily disposed of them - if he couldn't, he wouldn't have earned those wings, glistening like fresh ink on his back. But he hadn't.

There was a swelling under one eye, starting to purple, and if it wasn't for the set of his shoulders or the confidence of his movements, I would have thought he looked ragged. A dark patch, matted hair against his scalp - he had suffered a heavy blow recently, no doubt the cause of his capture. It would have been indication of a fight for any other man. With Leon, I was just disappointed.

There was no way a man should have been able to land that hit in a fight.

A rough hand was tugging out the knots, head tilted to listen to a grey-haired youth at his side, the water tinged red before it dissipated.

The Vizier was judging appraisingly, but Leon wasn't my concern. I had come for Yuffie, who had disappeared with one of Hades' agents into the women's baths. I only hoped it wouldn't come to dealing with Hades directly to secure her release.

ooo

"We won't be separated." I owed Strife that much at least. Yuffie seemed happier at the thought, a bit of her spunk coming back as she punched me again, grinning. The time away with Megara had given her eye the time to develop an impressive hue, but it hadn't swelled as much as I had hoped. The other woman must have had some means to suppress that.

"I knew you liked me."

"No one interested in her would buy you." The boy said casually, "though the same could be said in reverse. You have the mark of a fighter, even if you _are_ too pretty."

"And what am I, some helpless damsel in distress?" Yuffie huffed indignantly.

"Pretty much."

Riku recoiled as Yuffie's fist slammed into the side of his face.

It wasn't funny, but I had to suppress a chuckle. He looked shocked, as though he hadn't expected a reaction like that. The more I was getting to know her…I was surprised that was it.

"Look-"

Light flooded into the room, and voices came filtering in from above. Riku frantically motioned a command to stay silent which, thankfully, Yuffie complied.

" --rince Ali! We are so pleased that you could take time out of your-"

"Ah…yes, yes. I'm a busy man. Being a prince and all." The voice was young, and held both arrogance and an uncertainty to it that was confusing.

"Your Majesty…" there was something familiar about the new voice, low and confident, "I am sure you are eager to judge the…servants."

"This way, this way. You won't be disappointed. All fresh, all the best quality available."

Three figures came into view, a short unshaven fat man leading the other two to the cell door with an eager to please greasy smile.



"If they were the best quality, they wouldn't have been caught." Came the smooth voice again, but I had to be mistaken; it had come from a woman standing beside a tall man dressed in white and gold, a large purple plume in his hat. True I couldn't see her face from behind the light cloth covering her head and face, but…

The man sneered silently at her, mindful to not let the prince see his expression. "All of our stock is guaranteed."

She caught my eye and I realized the eyes I looked at were glowing a faint blue in the shadows of the cloth. It had to be a joke. There was no _way_ it was him. I was beginning to think he got some sort of perverse pleasure in cross-dressing.

"Well? What do you think of this lot?" The young man gestured vaguely at us, not really looking. It was almost as if he were…ashamed? No…more like the attitude that he might be caught. He was play acting just the same as Strife.

"Scrawny. Not worth the price he's asking by far. They're nothing but fodder he's trying to be rid of."

It didn't seem like Yuffie had caught on; she was still glaring daggers at everyone, arms fisted at her hips defiantly. "Look you pompous, misbegot-"

Riku stepped heavily on her foot at the same time I grabbed her elbow warningly.

"A thousand apologies, your Highness. That one has yet to be properly trained. I will see to it that she is properly punished for her insolence. The others, perhaps?" He glared at Strife, "Many fighters - a good investment. I assure you they all have many fights ahead of them. We would only offer the best for such a magnanimous prince such as yourself. They interest you?"

"Oh…no, I -" Prince Ali jumped at the subtle jab from Strife, "Yes, see that you do, and I'll…judge them myself, good man!"

"Excellent." The man grinned and nodded. "I will be but a moment. Take your time, please."

When he had left, Strife jabbed the impostor prince again. "_What?_"

Even acting, the man had to be insane. If he was caught - if _either_ of them were caught I was fairly certain that losing a limb would be the least of their worries.

"She is not to be punished. You will take her as is. That one too; the ugly brute with the scar."

"But you said -"

"Be quiet, he's coming back." The man in white's demeanour pivoted at that, adopting a haughty glare for the stout snivelling man.

"We will -" he did a marvellous job at not wincing at another of Strife's guiding touches, "I. _I_ willtake her and see that she is punished accordingly. That one too, the ugly brute with the scar. I'm sure to get good use out of him, at least."

I was glaring at the man something fierce. Sure, Strife was pulling his strings, but did he really have to include that? I could have sworn there was a flicker of amusement in those blue eyes. Batshit insane.

The man didn't return alone, though. A tall man, skinny, and dressed in dark shades glided into view behind him, what looked to be a perma-scowl plastered on his face.



"How very prudent of you; acquiring local stock within days of your arrival, Prince Aboo-boo." The Prince…Aboo-boo? – seized up at the voice, turning slowly to face the snake-like man. "I'm sure a man as cultured as you would appreciate seeing the quality of your potential purchases; put them to the test."

"I…"

"Prince Ali has made his choice, Vizier, I suggest you respect it." Strife said coldly.

It wasn't the right move. It drew attention from a pale impression of a noble to a clear outsider.

"What right does a woman have to speak in such disrespectful tones?" The Vizier's - Jafar's - hand snaked out, roughly jerking the cloth from Strife's head. The blond didn't move, still glaring unwaveringly.

I already had my hand over Yuffie's mouth, knowing that the sight would provoke something entirely unhelpful.

There was silence from Jafar and his cutthroat; the prince looked as though he didn't know what to do. It was Abdul who broke first.

"Djinn!"

Jafar shot him a look that was clearly intended to silence him, but there was no need; he had already scrambled clumsily out of sight.

ooo

"I come all this way expecting some exciting freak show, and all I get is a gender-confused delivery boy." Hades folded his arms, leaning against the wall with a frown. The Vizier had left me alone here, locked away and out of sight of Abdul's stock. Until Aladdin returned, I had little choice but to wait.

"Jafar's pungent little friend tells me your pet street rat is interested in a business endeavour. But now is he buying for the Coliseum, or is he buying for _you?_" He grinned, leaning closer, "Yes, I know about your little puppet show, but Jafar needs a little competition – doesn't know his place anymore. This is _my_ underworld, Spike, and that one reeks of pickpocket. The only question is: where are _your_ strings?"

So he knew. I expected as much, if we ran into him - I was just hoping we wouldn't. He struck a nerve though, despite my efforts.

A pointed hand forced my face to one side, and it took effort not to react to his taunts. "I think in this light I can just see them. Too bad all sales are on hiatus until certain _obstructions_ are dealt with; I have my own uses for an ex-soldier and company."

"What, you can't handle things yourself?" It was a stupid thing to say, but I wanted him to remember that even if I had strings, he certainly wasn't the one to pull them. And trying wouldn't be easy on him.

He reared on me, temper flaring dangerously, and just as quickly disappearing. "I'm a business man. And it looks like my _business_ has dragged in something important for my little toy soldier. You being here is interestingly convenient."

"Your stock is useless to me. The _Prince_ has requested my services."

"I'll bet. Warming those covers must be a _taxing_ endeavour. If you wanted a real job, I've got one – I'll even throw in a little reward. Say, a proud stud or a fancy filly?" Hades chuckled then, crossing an arm and inspecting his claws.

"Not interested." Where the hell was that man?

"Suit yourself. After all, I have another soldier and his little girlfriend lined up to try first. Maybe then we can discuss purchases for your _Prince."_


End file.
